7 January 2021: Hiding behind corona proof and safe windows...

7 January 2021: Update on the coronavirus pandemic in Belgium. We all have been looking in disbelieve at what happened at the US Capitol. Wow… To say it with the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger: “It’s time to end Trump’s stupid, crazy and evil ploy to cling to power”. I sincerely hope that people will draw their conclusions about the dangers of the current populistic tendencies in our societies. Meanwhile, the average number of people testing positive for SARS-VoV-2 in Belgium continues to fall albeit at a significantly lower pace. In Ghent there are still 221 cases per 100.000 inhabitants. The vaccination campaign is becoming a race against a potential third wave of the pandemic. The good news is that the Flemish government committed to get all care home residents immunised against coronavirus at least once by 25 January 2021. In the Flemish part of Belgium, we have 800 care homes, and the distribution of vaccines is organised via 13 hospital vaccination hubs.  Each care home is linked to a different hub that will supply the vaccine. Other good news was that the EMA granted conditional approval to the Moderna vaccine. The Belgian government pre-ordered 2 million doses of the Moderna vaccine and I’m anxiously waiting for the announcement of the government on Friday to learn how this will impact the roll-out of the overall vaccination campaign. Today’s picture is a portrait of Charlotte and the kids from a corona proof distance and behind safe glass… Kortrijk, Belgium.