More than half of all care providers whose turn it is to be vaccinated do not show up in the vaccination centre in Overijse (Flemish Brabant), according to professor Dirk Devroey (VUB).
The main problem is not so much that people do not want to be vaccinated, but rather the loss of emails with invitations, according to Devroey, who is a medical expert in the centre.
"People receive a text message, email or letter, but many people apparently do not respond, or do not see the mail because it disappears into their spam box," he told Het Laatste Nieuws.
Additionally, a number of people do not trust the invitations because of rumours about malicious emails. "It makes very few people confirm that they are going to come."
On top of that, the lists of names are not always correct either, according to Devroey.
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For example, not all hospitals report that their employees have already been vaccinated, and those people then receive an invitation even though they have already been vaccinated.
Due to those problems, the turnout in Overijse's centre on Monday was much lower than expected, Devroey said. "Less than half of the people who were invited showed up."
However, that does not mean all the available vaccines were lost, as there are reserve lists of other people who also belong to the priority groups.
Those people are then called to get their vaccine as soon as possible. As a result, 194 of the 200 available vaccines could still be administered on Monday, Devroey stressed.
Things also went wrong with invitations in other vaccination centres. Near the French border in Veurne (West-Flanders), a quarter of the people did not show up last weekend, but thanks to reserve lists, all 200 vaccines were eventually administered as well.
The city's mayor, Peter Roose, also noted that the lists of names were often incorrect, reports De Morgen.
"A self-employed home care nurse who works in a residential care centre, for example, may have already received their vaccine there, but was still on the invitation list," he said.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
