Belgium's second vaccination pilot test will be carried out on 30 December in Leuven in an effort to be fully operational by 5 January.
The test will happen in one or several residential care centres “in the region around the UZ Leuven” - the university hospital - as the vaccines will be stored there, Belgium's public health ministers decided.
It is not clear yet how many residential care centres will be involved or how many people will be vaccinated, but the test will “allow to fully optimise the procedures and logistical operation by 5 January.”
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UZ Leuven suggested the pilot test itself, according to De Morgen, and will happen on condition that the first test on Monday goes well.
That test on Monday will see 96-year-old Jos Hermans receive Belgium’s first coronavirus vaccine in the Sint-Pieter residential care centre in Puurs in the Antwerp region. A nursing home in Woluwe Saint-Pierre (Brussels) and one in Mons (Wallonia) will also take part in the pilot test on Monday.
This announcement follows warnings that Belgium would have to ensure it does not show any regional bias after reports that four residential care centres in the Flemish region that were initially set to get the vaccine. While government officials said the plans were unofficial, they remained enough to raise the debate.
Jason Spinks
The Brussels Times
