All young Belgians aged 12 to 17 who have already received two doses of vaccine will be able, on a voluntary basis, to receive their booster dose in Flemish vaccination centres. The decision was taken by the Flemish Minister of Public Health, Wouter Beke. “Flanders has decided not to refuse young people aged 12 to 17 from Brussels and Wallonia who come to vaccination centers in Flanders“, said Wednesday evening his spokesperson, Carmen De Rudder. And if the practical details are still being finalized, the decision is not already unanimous.
According to the mayor of Zaventem, Ingrid Holemans (Open VLD), such a proposal is not realistic. She laments the change in policy from one week to the next. “Last week, the communication was that we were not authorized to do this because Flanders was not responsible for the vaccination of Brussels and Walloons. We ordered the number of vaccines for people in our territory”, she explains to Bruzz. According to her, this turnaround completely changes the situation. “It’s not that we don’t want to help these young people. But it shouldn’t be that we have to postpone the vaccination dates that we have planned for the young people in our territory, or that we have to send them home because there are not enough vaccines,” she added.
“It is absurd that this is already possible in Flanders and not, so to speak, a meter further in the Brussels-Capital Region. Completely Kafkaesque,” said Hans Bonte (Vooruit), mayor of Vilvoorde. He asks the Brussels government to quickly approve the booster for teenagers. “There are young people in Brussels trying to make an appointment at the vaccination center in Vilvoorde,” he said.
He affirms that young people from Brussels came to Vilvoorde from the first day when Flemish teenagers were able to be vaccinated. “Unfortunately, we have to say no to that”, for whom this situation is unrealistic in terms of capacity and resources. “This is why I hope that the Brussels government will quickly give the green light to the booster shot for teenagers.”
Other centers, in Tervuren and Zaventem, would also have received requests from teenagers from Brussels. They were also refused, reports the VRT.
No scientific recommendations
In Wallonia and Brussels, the booster is not currently offered to minors. The last Health CIM, on February 2, failed to agree on this point. And for good reason: there is no scientific recommendation yet, either from the EMA, the European Medicines Agency, or from the Superior Health Council (CSS), which has decided to wait for the opinion of the first. Flanders went it alone, pushed by the prospect of winter sports stays in Austria, where proof of the administration of a booster dose (or a negative PCR test) from the age of 12 is required if wants to avoid quarantine upon entry.