Belgium's Chamber will hold a broad debate on mandatory vaccination and the Covid Safe Ticket (CST) after the end of the year recess, announced Parliament chair Eliane Tillieux.
Several countries have already made vaccination mandatory or tightened the rules for their own CST to combat the ongoing pandemic and the rising Omicron variant in recent weeks.
"These are very delicate issues, which must be discussed in a calm and nuanced way and deserve a great debate," Tillieux said in an announcement.
Welkom! #CODECO heeft voorgesteld in het Parlement een debat over verplichte vaccinatie te voeren. Dit zal georganiseerd kunnen worden na ontvangst v/d rapporten v/h Comité vr Bio-ethiek, Hoge Gezondheidsraad en de Federale commissie rechten van de patiënt.
— Eliane Tillieux (@elianetillieux) December 23, 2021
In the meantime, the Corona Commissioner has requested a series of reports on these issues from the Advisory Committee on Bioethics, the Supreme Health Council and the Federal Commission on Patients' Rights.
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Once these reports are available, the Chamber will be able to organise a broad debate with the support of experts and scientists, she stressed.
"A parliamentary debate on fundamental values such as individual freedom and solidarity, and their complementarity when it comes to public health, is certainly very meaningful," added Tillieux.
For her, a wide-ranging debate should make it possible to provide "the best answers to the challenges of tomorrow, to step up the fight against the pandemic, to protect our health and to safeguard our way of living together."
