Belgium has already purchased 22.4 million doses of vaccines against Covid-19 so far, according to data from the Medicines Agency (FAMHP).
The Interministerial Conference on Public Health decided on Wednesday to purchase 2 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, if it gets a market licence.
Earlier, Belgium already decided to purchase 7.5 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine, 5 million from Johnson&Johnson, 5 million from Pfizer/BioNTech, and 2.9 million from CureVac.
All vaccines have to be administered twice, except for the one from Johnson&Johnson, which should in principle work with a single injection, although it may be decided differently at the final assessment.
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If all candidate vaccines are given market authorisation, Belgium should have sufficient vaccines for its entire population.
"For herd immunity, 60% to 70% of the population must be vaccinated," Ann Eeckhout of the Medicines Agency told the Belga press agency on Wednesday.
"Some people will not be allowed to have one for medical reasons, others will not want one," she added. "It remains to be seen how many doses can be produced per month."
Additionally, Belgium still has to decide whether it will also subscribe to the vaccine by Sanofi and GSK, which will happen during this month.
On 5 January, Belgium will start vaccinating people against Covid-19, if the EU gives the green light, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Wednesday.
“The vaccination strategy will become clear in the next few days,” he said. “It is important that we get it right. There is no time to lose, but on 5 January we will be ready, just like other countries.”
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
