Belgium's Corona Commissioner, Pedro Facon, is not advocating mandatory vaccination against Covid-19, but prefers the introduction of a new "corona certificate," according to a memo seen by the Belga News Agency.
The memo was sent to the members of the Consultative Committee and the Chair of the Chamber on Thursday evening.
According to the Corona Commission, the main purpose of the "corona certificate" would be to contribute to a higher vaccination rate, rather than being a means to reduce the risk of infection in certain activities, as with the original Covid Safe Ticket (CST), reports Belga.
Higher vaccination coverage helps reduce severe cases and hospitalisations, the Commission reiterated. In this scenario, that certificate would, in practice, become a vaccination certificate, meaning the current recovery certificate would be scrapped.
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In certain cases, such as high virus circulation, the vaccination certificate could also be combined with a test certificate. Its use, however, should be limited, possibly part of the proposed "coronavirus barometer" which is expected to be introduced next week, and used only in certain contexts.
Importantly, the certificate should never be required for essential activities. It should be part of a broader policy package, as part of the so-called 'Swiss cheese model,' which stressed the need for several layers of measures on top of each other to control the risks and close the gaps as much as possible.
The Corona Commission recognises, however, that there are no perfect and 100% effective measures against the virus.
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, the Minister-Presidents of the different Regions and the Speaker of Chamber received the note on Thursday evening in view of the meeting of the Consultative Committee next week and the debates scheduled on the subject of making vaccination mandatory.
According to the Commission, a social debate and even a referendum could be considered in addition to a political debate about the topic.
