Pierre Van Damme: “A number of countries are considering mandatory vaccine…

Epidemiologist Pierre Van Damme believes that healthcare staff should be encouraged to be vaccinated against the corona virus. He also refers to a number of countries that are considering making vaccination mandatory for health personnel.

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Van Damme responded to the corona outbreak in a residential care center in Nivelles in De Morgen of Radio 1. “It is a matter of communication and awareness. But if that doesn’t work, I see that a number of countries are considering mandatory vaccination for their health personnel, a bit like hepatitis B,” says Van Damme.

Twelve people have died in a residential care center in Nivelles after an outbreak of the corona virus, although almost all residents have been vaccinated. And that is exceptional. Some experts are now investigating what might have happened. Virologist Johan Neyts already noted that a quarter of the staff in the residential care center had not been vaccinated.

According to epidemiologist Pierre Van Damme, additional awareness-raising among healthcare staff would certainly come in handy. “We see that in the residential care centers where the vaccination rates are among the highest, there are virtually no outbreaks. There is very clearly an entry gate if the staff is not fully vaccinated. In this way they can introduce the virus into a collective with vulnerable people,” said Van Damme in De Morgen.

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