Belgium considers U-turn on Oxford Covid vaccine for over-55s

People over the age of 55 in Belgium could be given the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, as the government seeks to “reset” its heavily criticised vaccination programme.

Belgium joined Germany, France, Poland and Italy last month in only giving the vaccine to younger groups due to a comparative lack of data on its efficacy in the older age ranges in the Oxford/AstraZeneca clinical trials.

But images of empty vaccination centres and reports of untouched stockpiles of doses lying in fridges has led to an outcry over the slow progress in administering vaccines, with the country also suffering a rise in infections.

Hospital admissions on Sunday were up 44% on last week, according to provisional figures. Just 6.96% of the Belgian population has received a jab, compared with 30.14% in the UK. The average proportion given a vaccine across the EU’s 27 member states is 7.26%.

Frank Vandenbroucke, the Belgian federal minister of health, said the government would take advice on Wednesday from its chief scientists and regional leaders “on the strategy and on the operational problems”.

“I really want a reset of the campaign,” he said. “There are hiccups that absolutely must be resolved and which are not acceptable. There are delays in the process which are not acceptable.”

The government is looking at rethinking its previous policy that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine should only be give to people under the age of 55.

Coronavirus cases in Belgium

A recent “real world” study in Scotland showed a very high level of effectiveness in the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines among older people. Among the over-80s, there was an overall 81% reduction in the numbers admitted to hospital, according to the study by Scottish universities and Public Health Scotland. Although the study was not set up to look at any differences between the two vaccines, it suggested that both were working well, said the researchers.

Vandenbroucke said: “If we can administer AstraZeneca to everyone, our vaccination campaign can be simpler and more direct.

“If we can further space the first dose of Pfizer and the second dose, this will create a significant accelerator effect which will be very welcome in the context we are currently living, where there is perhaps the danger of a third wave.”

Last week, the EU’s 27 heads of state and government committed to speeding up the vaccine rollout across Europe. Over the weekend, Carsten Watzl, head of the German Society for Immunology, said he expected regulators in his country to reverse their decision to not recommend the AstraZeneca jab for those aged over 65. Germany’s vaccine commission is reviewing its recommendation.

The European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Monday she would present a proposal in March on creating an EU-wide digital vaccination passport to facilitate travel. “As for the question of what the digital green passport could look like: we will submit a legislative proposal in March,” she said in a video conference with German conservative lawmakers.