Many measures are needed to control the corona pandemic, but the vaccine will be an important part of the strategy. The Interministerial Conference on Public Health has announced that the vaccination will be free for every citizen in our country.
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Now that a number of vaccines are almost ready to hit the market, the various governments in our country are gearing up to work out a coordinated approach. Therefore, the Interministerial Conference on Public Health decided on a number of guidelines related to the vaccination strategy for corona.
The goal is to vaccinate seventy percent of the population. So the vaccine will be free for every citizen, but the vaccination is also voluntary. The priority groups are determined on the basis of scientific advice and a public debate.
The citizens will be vaccinated in groups, as the vaccines consist of multidose vials to be administered on the same day. The costs of the vaccination plan are divided between the federal government and the states.
Rollout
Belgium follows a European purchase procedure for the purchase of the vaccines. The European Commission will negotiate with companies on behalf of the member states. Currently, three contracts have already been signed.
A task force is set up consisting of scientists, representatives of federal and state government services, crisis managers and, where necessary, representatives of professional organizations and technical working groups. They must ensure that the roll-out of the program runs smoothly. Prof. Dr. Dirk Ramaekers takes charge of this task force.
Candidate vaccine
Not only the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine is almost finished, also that of the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is at an advanced stage. Pfizer was the first company to announce an effective vaccine with a 90 percent efficacy rate. With this variant, transport can be a problem, the vaccines must be stored at -70 to -80 degrees Celsius during transport. The AstraZeneca variant would cost only three euros, which is ten times cheaper than Pfizer, and can be kept in the refrigerator.
There is a third vaccine, that of Moderna, in the final phase. The company itself reports on the basis of preliminary test results that it produces results in 94.5 percent of the cases. The Pfizer vaccine, the Oxford vaccine and the Moderna variant all attack the ‘spiny protein’.
The corona figures are declining. But how do our hospitals experience this second wave? In the video below, some care providers from the Heilig Hart Regional Hospital in Tienen testify.
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