Several laboratories are announcing their progress in the development of new vaccines against Covid-19 (Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Sputnik V) and thus raising hopes of a vaccination campaign that could slow down or put an end to the pandemic. The first doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive in a few weeks, following the United States.
Prime Minister Xavier Bettel confirmed at the end of last week that he was confident that the first deliveries of vaccines could take place in mid-December. Initially, 45,000 doses will be delivered to Luxembourg. This means that in a first phase, 23,000 people will be able to get vaccinated as the vaccine ordered by the European Commission requires a booster dose.
The director of the National Health Directorate, Dr Jean-Claude Schmit, confirmed that at this stage, there were no plans to make vaccination mandatory in Luxembourg. However, the government’s mass vaccination strategy had been one of the major concerns of the working group at the Ministry of Health “for weeks”.
In the same vein, the Prime Minister even revealed that the government had already agreed on Luxembourg’s vaccination strategy but was still waiting for the approval from the National Consultative Ethics Commission (CNE).
The strategy is expected to be finalised by next week and will then be presented to the state council and the general public “once it is ready”, Bettel stated.
All the parameters related to logistics, i.e. when and with whom, were being planned. This choice would also depend on which type of vaccine could be delivered first, explained Lenert. The opinion of the CNE is crucial in this dossier as it would help to precisely define the prioritisation of vaccinations and the first target groups.
In an interview with our colleagues at RTL 5 Minutes, the minister warned that even once there was a vaccine, it would not be deployed overnight.
Bettel stated that the government was already prepared for different scenarios. It had already been decided that vaccination centres would be set up in order to “vaccinate more quickly” compared to a standard vaccination at a doctor’s office. On Tuesday, Dr Jean-Claude Schmit specified during an interview on Radio 100,7 that in a first phase, there would be three vaccination centres in central, northern, and southern Luxembourg respectively.
This was because the government was aware that the vaccination would have to be carried out quickly, explained the Prime Minister. In addition, Bettel also knows that one of the other major tasks ahead will be to convince the Grand-Duchy’s population, concluding: “The solution will lie in a “transparent, factual, and effective community vaccination strategy”.
In the meantime, people should remain cautious and patient in the face of the pandemic, not to let their guard down, and continue to respect social distancing. According to Lenert, this was a crisis that would “certainly mark the winter of 2020-2021".
