Brussels' health authorities fired one of its employees after discovering that they entered the names of several acquaintances in the vaccination registration system (Vaccinnet), even though these people had not been vaccinated.
The administrative employee abused access to Vaccinnet by registering a number of unvaccinated people as being vaccinated on the system, meaning they could have received a Covid vaccination certificate, while they were not protected.
"This is, of course, unacceptable," Fatima Boudjaoui, a spokesperson for Cocom, told The Brussels Times.
"Fortunately, it was discovered immediately by an internal control mechanism and these people were not able to obtain a European Covid certificate," she said.
It concerned fewer than five people who were unrightfully entered onto the system, according to Boudjaoui, who stressed that it was an isolated incident.
"But it is about the principle. 'No pasarán', I would say. We can simply not allow this," she added. "This person was fired immediately. We are considering legal action, and are looking into what exactly we can do."
In a press release, Cocom emphasised that it constitutes a serious threat to public health to have non-vaccinated people walking around with vaccination certificates, especially in light of the low vaccination rate in the Brussels-Capital Region.
"This act can cost lives," the authorities said, adding that a false declaration may lead to the downplaying of Covid-19 symptoms, resulting in delayed or incorrect diagnosis and treatment.
It could also lead to mistakes in quarantine and isolation measures, which could result in the infection of vulnerable people. On a broader scale, such a false declaration could lead to inconsistencies in the monitoring of vaccination, its effectiveness and side effects, distorting the analysis of the public health situation.
"It was only a few people, but this is not to be underestimated," Boudjaoui added.
