The list of countries temporarily suspending the AstraZeneca vaccine because of potential serious side effects was further extended on Monday, including Germany, France and Spain. But Belgium finally communicated at the end of the day: it is not giving up the AstraZeneca vaccine for the moment and is continuing its vaccination campaign.
Yves Van Laethem, interfederal spokesperson in the fight against the coronavirus, spoke on the subject on the 7 p.m. news from RTL-TVi. « The Superior Health Council gave us a very clear opinion on Monday. It thinks that the public health interest – at a time when we are precisely starting the vaccination of the most vulnerable people, people over 65 – is far greater than the potential risk. But the Health Council specifies that it will obviously be vigilant and listen to the opinions of the countries around us and which for the moment have interrupted this vaccination, sometimes with very little published scientific data.
Asked if it is not more prudent to follow our neighbors, Yves Van Laethem answers: « These serious cases are currently so few in number and so poorly documented that interrupting the vaccination campaign would be more harmful than anything else. But we will obviously follow what is happening and in particular the meetings of the European Agency Medicine, which has set important appointments on Tuesday and Thursday. The experts from the EMA like those from the WHO will arrive with detailed arguments and we will decide according to their opinions ».
In any case, Yves Van Laethem encourages the population to continue vaccination. « In most of the countries around us, the decision was taken by politicians, much more than by the security agencies themselves. So we find ourselves before a kind of game of political dominoes in which, because of fear There is, the political power decides to suspend the campaign. In Belgium, we decided for reasons which seem scientific to us to continue the campaign and to align ourselves with the decisions which are just as scientific taken by the authorities. I hope that the population will realize in the coming days that its interest, especially among people over 75, 80, is to be really vaccinated ».
Frank Vandenbroucke evokes a race against time
Invited on the RTBF 7:30 p.m. news set, Frank Vandenbroucke made the same comments as Yves Van Laethem: “Of course the safety of the vaccine is important and we want to find out what is happening elsewhere and have all the data. We are waiting for the European Medicines Agency to analyze the data at the level of all of Europe and we report on Thursday. In the meantime, stopping this vaccination campaign as the virus continues to spread rapidly would be irresponsible as it is a safe and effective protection against this disease. »
« I’m not saying that France or Germany make bad decisions » however, indicated the Federal Minister of Health, who speaks of a race against time and explains why he is not suspending the vaccine by Thursday and the decision of the European Medicines Agency. “What I am saying is that the balance that must be struck between getting vaccinated and the risk of being infected is very important. It is a race against time because there is a real increase in contaminations and an increase in hospitalizations in recent days, so it’s quite dramatic. So this is not a political debate here but a health one. It’s a race against time.
Should we expect the population to refuse to go to vaccination centers in the coming days? Frank Vandenbroucke does not want to believe it. “Tomorrow thousands of people will be vaccinated. All the vaccines we have are safe and excellent. We have taken measures to ensure their safety. And so far, we have no doubts. reckless is not to be vaccinated. The disaster is a third wave. And it is only with the vaccine that we will defeat this virus. »
The vaccination task force confirms
The group in charge of vaccination in Belgium will follow the decision of the interministerial Public Health conference, which is based on the opinion on the matter from the Superior Health Council issued earlier in the afternoon on Monday. The vaccination task force confirmed this decision in the evening, repeating that the AstraZeneca vaccine has already been massively administered throughout the world, and the rate of thrombosis in vaccinated people is lower than in the general population. The AZ vaccine is « good », « safe » and « effective », reminded the experts of the task force. It reduces the risk of hospitalization for people with an infection by 94% and the public health benefits of continuing to vaccinate « far outweigh » the harms.
The task force, whose objective is to vaccinate more than 70% of the population, ensures that the safety and health of citizens is a higher priority than their participation in the campaign. Each case of thrombosis found after administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine is recorded by the Belgian Medicines Agency (AFMPS) which, after analysis, transmits this data to the EMA. Each case is taken seriously and followed closely, insists the task force.
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