“Despite the emergence of variants, we can look forward with hope to the liberation and the resumption of normal life.” Antwerp mayor and N-VA chairman Bart De Wever stated this on Sunday during his traditional 11 July speech at the Schoonselhof cemetery in Antwerp. “That is thanks to the efforts of Flanders, the local authorities and the primary care zones. What we do ourselves, we do indeed do better.”
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During his speech, De Wever seemed to mainly look back on the pandemic, although the corona figures are now rising again. “At times it was a matter of looking for the exit, by touch”, says De Wever. “But once the man-and-power vaccines proved to work – what a miracle of science – we started to gain momentum. At first rippling, but then certainly with us very clearly. Skepticism about the vaccine has melted away. The realization grew that those who did not get vaccinated not only endanger the immediate environment, but actually take the whole society hostage.” The Flemish vaccination campaign is a success that, for example, the Netherlands is very jealous of, says De Wever.
In his own words, De Wever also notes that the economy already seems to be recovering from the corona crisis. “The recent figures from our port were also encouraging,” he says. “But even then we will have to boost the activity rate in Flanders to fill the large gaps in the labor market and to secure our future.” In that respect, De Wever also referred to the wave of pensions among the ‘baby boomers’, which cannot be taken care of by their children and grandchildren alone. “Flanders will have to make an increased effort to properly train newcomers and give a boost to the labor market.”
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