No vaccines for cross-border workers

Luxembourg will not be able to vaccinate its 200,000 cross-border workers living outside of the Grand Duchy. This was confirmed by Paulette Lenert during a question-and-answer session with Health Director Jean-Claude Schmit on Wednesday evening. Only residents will have access to a vaccine.

"During the first phase, we did include cross-border workers", Paulette Lenert explained, referring to the vaccination of health sector workers. "But the attribution of vaccine orders within the EU is calculated on the basis of resident numbers. Every country receives a certain number of doses to cover its population. This means that cross-border workers cannot be vaccinated here in Luxembourg, with some exceptions."

These exceptions include health sector workers, for instance. As they are in contact with people who have tested positive for the virus, they have been vaccinated from the end of December regardless of place of residence. Many of them have in fact been invited to take the vaccine in order to form a "health barrier" between infected patients and the rest of the population.

But due to the EU's proportional vaccine attribution, "there is no other phase that will apply to cross-border workers directly", says Paulette Lenert. "It is primarily for Luxembourg residents." The roughly 200,000 cross-border workers will have to refer to the vaccination strategy and schedules of their respective countries of residence. Luxembourg residents, for their part, can refer to the six phases announced by the government.