Belgium briefly missed out on 2.5 million coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech at the end of 2020 - not due to delivery issues, but due to a missing signature.
When, in mid-December, the European Commission announced an option to buy an extra 100 million doses, on top of the 200 million ones already purchases, Belgium's Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP) indicated that Belgium wanted to participate.
However, the FAMHP forgot to sign the participation document in time, which cancelled the opportunity to benefit from 2.5 million additional vaccines.
Fortunately, when the Commission negotiated a new order for 200 million doses with the company, Belgium's "lost" vaccines could successfully be recovered.
According to Federal Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke, the “loss” due to the December incident has been corrected and therefore does not compromise the vaccination schedule. “We have solved the problem and Belgium is back on the European train. There is no impact for our country on the number of vaccines, nor on the delivery schedule,” he said.
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The aviation industry is urging the EU to adopt a proposal for a digital Covid-19 vaccination certificate, which would enable vaccinated people to travel freely in all Member States.
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A missing signature caused Belgium to temporarily miss out on 2.5 million coronavirus vaccines, Knack magazine reports on Wednesday. Read More.
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Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
