The vaccination rate in the Brussels Region is influenced by large differences between municipalities, the Joint Community Commission (Cocom) said on Monday morning at its weekly press briefing.
"The Brussels population is very international,” said Inge Neven, head of Cocom's hygiene department.
“We are faced with a greater challenge than others to reach these people in their language and culture. We are therefore pursuing all possible awareness-raising actions. I am convinced that we will see these percentages increase again.”
So far, 253,545 people have received at least one dose of vaccine; 80,120 have received two.
Almost 70% of the 65+ population has been vaccinated for the first time, and Cocom is optimistic about the chances of reaching this milestone with the help of the ongoing awareness campaigns.
However, there are large differences between the 65+ vaccination rates (first dose only) by municipality.
The numbers are: in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre (80.7%), Auderghem (79.3%), Watermael-Boitsfort (78.2%), Uccle (77.9%), Berchem-Sainte-Agathe (76.3%) and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert (75.6%).
On the other hand, those in the first ring of the capital have lower rates: Saint-Josse-Ten-Noode (51.7%), Saint-Gilles (59.5%), the City of Brussels (61.2%), Schaerbeek (61.3%) and Molenbeek (62.1%).
According to Neven, the figures can be explained by the cosmopolitan nature of the Brussels Region (184 nationalities), the overall low socio-economic level in certain areas, the existence in some places of a population less oriented towards health prevention and the digital divide.
However, Neven said, there is a notable impact of each awareness-raising action via Cocom, the municipalities and local actors (general practitioners, pharmacies, home help, etc.).
Seventy percent is considered the proportion of the population that needs to be vaccinated in order to overcome the pandemic.
The Brussels Times
