Brussels closes vaccination centres as demand wanes

Brussels closes vaccination centres as demand wanes
Pacheco test and vaccination centre in Brussels. Credit: Belga

Three of the remaining four vaccination centres in the Brussels-Capital Region will close their doors this year as demand for the doses diminishes.

On 30 November this year, the first vaccination centres, those in Forest and Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, will close their doors. The centre in Molenbeek will then follow on 31 December, the Joint Community Commission (Cocom), the administration which oversees the health situation in the region, announced.

"As the epidemiological indicators for both Covid-19 and monkeypox have been in the green for several weeks and vaccination activity against these two diseases is now in a downward phase, the Cocom is adapting its vaccination strategy," a statement from the body on Friday read.

The Pachéco vaccination centre will continue its activities until 31 March 2023, but with limited opening hours. Those who still want to be vaccinated against Covid-19 can visit this centre, while GPs, medical centres and pharmacies are also actively participating in the vaccination campaign.

"These decisions were taken with the expectation that primary and secondary care providers (pharmacists, nurses, etc.) would take over the vaccination process," the Cocom noted.

Related News

Meanwhile, the preventive vaccination against monkeypox at the Pachéco centre will also be phased out due to the increasingly limited number of doses of the vaccine administered here.

The second dose (which should be injected within 28-35 days after the first dose) will still be administered here until Saturday 17 December.

However, preventive vaccination against the virus will still be possible in the four hospitals that currently provide it (the CHU Saint-Pierre, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Erasmus Hospital and UZ Brussel).


Copyright © 2024 The Brussels Times. All Rights Reserved.