The Belgian government announced on Monday that it intends to provide any Covid-19 vaccine to about 70% of the country’s population and free of charge.
The use of the vaccine will not be mandatory, added Health Minister Frank Vandenbruke at an inter-ministerial health conference.
“The goal is to vaccinate at least 70% of the population. Priority groups will be determined on the basis of scientific opinion and social debate,” the minister said.
He added that “the vaccination will be free for every citizen” who will receive it.
In Belgium, with a population of 11.5 million, almost 540,000 new coronavirus infections and more than 14,000 related deaths have been reported so far. Belgium has one of the first deaths per million population in Europe.
Belgium, as an EU Member State, has been involved in EU procedures for the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines when they become available in the coming months. The EU said on Monday it had signed an agreement with German pharmaceutical company CureVac for another potential Covid-19 vaccine.
Belgium has so far applied for 7.7 million doses of vaccine developed by AstraZeneca (in this case two doses are required for each vaccination) and for 5.5 million doses of vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson.
Any vaccine will only be distributed in EU countries once it has been found to be safe and effective and will need the approval of the European Medicines Agency.
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