11 February 2021: The WHO approves the AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for over 65s…

11 February 2021: The latest figures on the number of new cases of coronavirus are encouraging.  In the week to 7 February on average 2107 people tested positive each day in Belgium. The figure is down 8% on the week. Yesterday, the WHO stated that even though not much data on the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine among the elderly is available, it still recommends its use for over 65s, based on the available evidence. Immune responses induced by the vaccine in older persons are well documented and similar to those in other age groups the statement continued. Even though the EMAapproved it for use in all age groups at the end of January, several European countries still advised against it. Last week, the Belgian authorities decided not to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine to people over the age of 55 for now, based on a recommendation from the Superior Health Council. A decision that had significant consequences for our country’s vaccination strategy, as Belgium ordered 7 million doses of the vaccine. The chair of the Superior Health Council followed up on the news with a brief statement saying that the council will look into it and revert back in the coming weeks. I’m failing to understand the rationale of this approach. Why does our Superior Health Council need a couple of weeks to confirm the work that has been done by two leading health authorities? Why do local authorities need to duplicate the work that already has been done by international umbrella organizations? Aren’t we duplicating efforts and therefore loosing valuable time? Understand who can… Anyway, I decided to post something completely different today. Photographing birds doesn’t usually charm me, however, I felt that to this shot goes well together with this week’s weather conditions – Citadelpark, Ghent, Belgium.