More than 250,000 people in Belgium have registered on the reserve list to get vaccinated via the federal QVax system since it went online on Tuesday, according to the vaccination task force.
About half a million people attempted to register for the reserve list on Tuesday, which led to hour-long waits before the platform could be accessed. On Wednesday, over 250,000 people successfully registered, according to a press release.
Almost 10% of those who managed to register on Tuesday were over 65 years old - the age group currently being vaccinated - meaning they are the most likely to be called up.
However, these leftover vaccines "always involve a limited number of doses," the task force stressed, as it only concerns the remaining vaccines of people who did not show up to their appointment during the day.
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"The people on the reserve list will be called up in descending order of age, as provided for in the vaccination schedule, and therefore not on the basis of who registered first," they said.
"A 28-year-old cannot be called up before a 65-year-old, even if he registered before the 65-year-old," they added. "The main purpose of this reserve list is to vaccinate as many people as possible as soon as possible."
The Qvax system is available to people living in Flanders, Wallonia and the German-speaking community, but Brussels' residents have to use the Capital-Region's own system.
Additionally, this large influx shows that the population is highly motivated to get vaccinated and that people understand the importance of the vaccination campaign, according to the authorities.
"Only when we reach the milestone of 70% vaccinated adults can we return to normal life," they added. "When you get vaccinated, you not only protect yourself, but you contribute to the herd immunity of the whole population."
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
