1 March 2021: Will Belgium reset its vaccination strategy…?

1 March 2021: The figures continue to rise. In the week to 25 February on average 2407 people tested positive each day. This figure is up 19% on the week. Also, the number of hospitalizations is up by 20%. In the week to 27 February an average of 144 patients with COVID-19 were hospitalised each day. In light of these deteriorating figures the government finally understood that they need to reset the country’s vaccination strategy. Next Wednesday they will address three questions. First, can the AstraZeneca vaccine be administered to people above the age of 55 years. The second question is whether the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine can be administered 42 days after the first, instead of 21 days as has been recommended thus far. The final question is whether administering a single dose would be enough instead of the two recommended for some vaccines. The last question is perhaps a little bit premature but the other two seems to me as no brainers. And yeah, there was that other thing that caught my attention yesterday. Erica Vlieghe, the head of advisory group to the government said that people should stop whining and moaning about the impact of the measures that were put in place to curb the spread of the virus. “If we do not stop telling ourselves ‘it’s horrible,’ and ‘we can’t stand it any longer,’ then we definitely won’t be able to stand it any longer..” she said on a talk show on national TV. Well, she’s probably right… I should stop worrying about it and continue to enjoy documenting how life unfolds before my eyes during these unprecedented times. I don’t know why this view caught my attention. I just liked it and decided to bucket it as another urban composition – Rembert Dodoensdreef, Ghent, Belgium.