Coronavirus booster campaign begins today | The Bulletin
A new booster vaccination campaign against coronavirus began in Belgium on Monday, starting with the most vulnerable groups.
Priority is given to people who are more likely to develop a severe form of Covid-19, such as the immuno-compromised, care home residents and everyone over 65. Healthcare workers aged over 50 and pregnant women will also be among the first to be offered the booster dose.
“The purpose of this autumn vaccination is to strengthen protection against the serious consequences linked to Covid-19 before an upsurge in the epidemic expected this winter,” said a spokesperson for the Flemish Healthcare Agency.
More than a million invitiation letters to book an appointment have already been sent out. The second step of the booster campaign will see invitations sent out to all people aged 50-64.
In Brussels, it is expected that the booster jab will be offered to anyone over 18 who wants it from 1 October, without an appointment. The goal is that all those who wish to be vaccinated will have received the jab by the end of October.
The second booster dose, which for many people will be their fourth dose in total of the coronavirus vaccine, has been produced by Pfizer and Moderna, and should offer better protection against the Omicron variant of the virus.
It can be administered in vaccination centres, by your general practitioner and – from next week – in certain participating pharmacies. Wearing a mask during your vaccination appointment is compulsory.
In Wallonia, 22 vaccination centres opened their doors on Monday, with capacity to deliver 184,000 jabs per week and more than 110,000 appointments have already been made.
Flanders has 80 vaccination centres and Brussels has four – Forest, Molenbeek, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre and Boulevard Pacheco in the city centre.
More information about the vaccination campaign can be found at jemevaccine.be (Wallonia), laatjevaccineren.be (Flanders) and coronavirus.brussels.