It was one of the last duties of the Walloon government with the summer break: to organize the “autumn campaign” of large-scale vaccination against COVID. For the Walloon Minister of Health, the socialist Christie Morreale, “the best time is back to school, that’s why we start the vaccination campaign at that time“.
Who is concerned ?
The entire population aged 18 and over and vaccinated three times is affected by this fourth dose. This represents 1.9 million Walloons and Walloons.
A “priority” population will be invited by mail:
- immunocompromised people
- 65 years and over
- residents of accommodation structures (nursing and care home, mental health center, center in charge of disabled people)
- health professionals
- and 50-64 year olds
This population represents more or less one million people. Vaccination invitation letters will be sent at the end of August.
The rest of the population, 18-49, is invited to be vaccinated on a voluntary basis, and even today, for those who wish. In total, 67% of Walloons received a complete vaccination scheme (3 doses). It should be noted that 85% of people aged 65 and over and immunocompromised people are fully vaccinated. This represents a population of 700,000 people.
These decisions thus follow the recommendations of the interministerial health conference and the opinion of the Superior Health Council. The cost of this campaign is 25 million euros. The vaccines used are Moderna and Pfizer as they have been used for 18 months with us, without the possibility of choosing (there is one vaccine per centre). Lambert Stamatakis, the covid delegate-general for Wallonia recalls “the very great effectiveness of these vaccines against severe forms of covid. But if, in September, there is authorization to use the bivalent Moderna or Pfizer vaccines (note: better adapted to the omicron variant), we will replace current vaccines“.
Where and when to get vaccinated?
The campaign begins on September 5. 21 vaccination centers are planned, almost everywhere in Wallonia, open on average 6 days a week, 10 hours a day. About fifty pharmacies should participate (and this figure should increase in September), as well as general practitioners who wish to do so. Here is the map of where to get vaccinated.