By the end of August, seven of the ten vaccination centres in the Brussels-Capital Region will close down completely, Inge Neven of the Brussels Health Inspectorate announced on Monday.
The vaccination centre at Heysel will close its doors on 10 August, according to Neven. The last first doses will be administered on 17 July, so that the second shots can be administered no later than 9 August.
Additionally, as of July 17, it will no longer be possible to get vaccinated without an appointment.
The centre in the Military Hospital will also close in mid-August, but will remain available on Tuesdays and Thursdays for Belgians abroad, and other specific groups.
Five other vaccination centres will close at the end of August: Uccle (27 August), Molenbeek and Anderlecht (both 28 August), Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and Schaerbeek (31 August).
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However, the centres in Forest, Pacheco and Woluwe-Saint-Pierre will remain operational until the end of October.
"How long exactly depends on the evolution of the virus," said Neven, adding that once the various centres close their doors, neighbourhood outreach centres, GPs and local vaccination points will become more important.
Vaccination buses
Vaccination buses are also being used to reach as many people as possible, as the Capital Region and bus company Keolis are joining forces to increase the vaccination rate, according to a press release.
The buses will come to the people at busy places such as markets, parks and events, Keolis announced on Monday.
"Thanks to our vaccination buses, the Region can now reach more people who would otherwise find it difficult or impossible to come to the vaccination centre, thus increasing the number of people vaccinated", said Gaëtan Binet, Keolis' manager for the vaccination buses.
On board the bus is a small vaccination centre: people get on, show their identity card, a doctor checks their health and then they get a shot of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, so they do not need a second dose.
"Thanks to this collaboration, we can address many more neighbourhoods in parallel and thus gain enormous effectiveness," said Neven.
The Brussels Times
