Four medical centres in Brussels will be able to administer coronavirus vaccines, in addition to the region's ten vaccination centres, as part of a pilot project aimed at increasing the vaccination coverage of the most difficult to reach target groups.
As of Thursday, the participating centres in the communes of Brussels, Laeken, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, and Schaerbeek will allow patients to be vaccinated without an appointment, the region's Joint Community Commission (Cocom) announced on Wednesday evening.
"Vaccination through primary care complements the general vaccination strategy. The aim is to increase local vaccination coverage in the municipalities that experience the most difficulties and to actively raise awareness of the importance of vaccination, through the people in the field who they trust," Cocom said in a press release.
The pilot project will last six weeks and will be evaluated after this period.
The medical centres themselves will register the administered vaccines in VaccinNet, and they will have to ensure a second dose is administered, either within their own centre or at the vaccination centre.
Who can now get vaccinated?
Brussels residents aged 65 and over can now get vaccinated without an appointment at any one of the ten Brussels vaccination centres.
Meanwhile, those aged 41 and older can get vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, of which only one dose is needed, without making an appointment at the Woluwe-Saint-Pierre centre, which will extend its opening hours on Friday 18 June 8:30 PM.
Since last Friday, people aged 31 and older can make a vaccination appointment on the Bru-Vax platform whilst all adults in the region (born in or before 2003) can register on the waiting list.
"With summer just around the corner, it's all the more important to get vaccinated, because summer also means more free time and more social contacts," the statement read.
This week, more than 750,000 vaccines were administered in the region, of which just over 473,000 were first doses and just over 277,000 were second doses.
More than 272,000 Brussels residents have made an appointment for vaccination through the Bru-Vax platform and 29,000 have registered on the waiting list.
