Around half of Belgians are in favour of making the Covid-19 vaccination mandatory, according to the results of a recent poll.
The poll, called the Grote Peiling in Dutch, was carried out on behalf of news outlets Het Laatste Nieuws, VTM Nieuws, Le Soir and RTL.
There were regional differences when it came to questions about mandatory vaccinations.
Around 57% of people in Flanders said they were in favour of making the Covid-19 vaccine compulsory, compared to 49% in Brussels and 44% in Wallonia.
Wallonia in particular has been struggling to reach a portion of its population who are resistant to vaccination - the region has had to relaunch awareness campaigns for some of its older age groups, and this week will be allowing anyone over the age of 18 to get their first shot.
The survey found that political party preference plays a role in whether or not a person feels the Covid-19 vaccine should be mandatory: NVA voters were largely in favour of making it compulsory (66%) and PTB voters were generally against it (65%).
Wallonia is the only region with more opponents than supporters of mandatory vaccination.
When it comes to vaccinating young people, 62% of Flemish respondents were in favour of children as young as 12 getting a Covid-19 vaccine, compared to 47% of people in Brussels and 44% of Wallonian respondents.
There were also regional differences when it came to other questions: for example, while half of Belgians fear a fourth wave of the coronavirus, that concern is most pronounced in Flanders (56%) compared to Brussels (45%) and Wallonia (43%).
The poll also found that nearly half of all Flemish people would prefer to see summer school holidays shortened, instead adding a week to the autumn and/or spring holiday.
The Brussels Times
