Belgium: ‘I’m ready to consider compulsory vaccination’, PM says for first time

“I am ready to consider compulsory vaccination,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexandre de Croix said for the first time in an interview with the Flemish newspaper De Zondag.

As the year draws to a close and 2021 is still marked by a pandemic, the Belgian Prime Minister has announced that “the Omicron mutation will not be the last wave” and “we must learn to live with the virus”. To do this, the Belgian prime minister outlines various avenues: extra beds in the intensive care unit or even … compulsory vaccination – an issue that de Croe has not advocated in recent months. On several occasions he had said that he did not want vaccination to be mandatory, saying that he believed more in persuasion than in enforcement. However, in his interview with “De Zondag” he specifically states: “The goal is clear: everyone should be vaccinated. If the path of compulsory vaccination can help, I am ready to think about it”, while reminding that a debate will be needed in Parliament.

For Alexander de Cro, however, other measures must be taken into account in the long run. “Our hospitals need to be in a better position to deal with the peak of cases,” he said, noting that 2,000 intensive care beds may not be enough. Secondly, he stressed that more efforts should be made for continuous prevention, thirdly, that vaccination and control centers should be strengthened, and fourthly, that a system with ceilings should be put in place to provide clarity.

Source: AMPE