Initially, it was expected that around 300 healthcare providers will show up this weekend at the two vaccination centers located in Wemmel and Londerzeel, in Flemish Brabant. They were to receive their anti-Covid vaccine there, but a hundred of them did not go there. There were therefore still doses to be administered, and the president of the first line zone (ELZ) of Grimbergen, Armand Hermans, obviously did not want to waste them.
“Believe me, this is not the scenario you want to live,” Armand Hermans told Nieuwsblad. To make up for the shortage of people to be vaccinated, he first followed the procedure determined in the vaccination strategy. Either: first contact the Belgians absent for their appointment, then call other healthcare providers whose names are listed in a list made available by the government. However, no luck, this system was undergoing an update this weekend, and was therefore not available.
The president of the CPAS of Wemmel therefore thought of a last solution: an appeal launched by the ELZ of Grimbergen on Facebook. Via social networks, the front-line zone had made it known that it was establishing a reserve list for vaccination, and had received many responses from people wishing to be vaccinated quickly. “Initially, our wish was never to have to use it, because it is not what the higher authorities want. They want us to examine their lists, which is logical”, detailed Armand Hermans. But “necessity knows no law,” he added, delighted to have finally found the solution to distribute unclaimed doses of vaccine.
He made it clear that this way of proceeding would remain exceptional, but this was “an emergency situation”, in his words. In total, nearly 100 inhabitants of the region therefore received their first injection earlier than expected.
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