REUTERS. Among the Belgians called to be administered the AstraZeneca vaccine, few seemed to refuse the much-discussed shot.
In Antwerp, Belgium's second biggest city, a few dozen out of 2,000 people cancelled their vaccine appointments, coordinator of the main vaccination centre Jan Stroobants told Reuters on Tuesday (March 16).
Belgium is one of the only Western European countries left to continue with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, after countries like Italy, Germany, and France suspended its use over concerns about possible serious side-effects.
Sara Vanheule, a healthcare provider from Antwerp who received a jab on Tuesday, admitted that she would have preferred it to be from another brand.
"If I could choose, I would rather have another vaccine, because of the different stories you hear in other countries that have stopped using it. But because I couldn't choose, I came here anyway," she said.
Europe's medicines watchdog on Tuesday said the benefits of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine continue to outweigh the risks after several countries halted its use.
AstraZeneca said last week it would try to deliver 30 million doses to the European Union by the end of March, down from a contractual obligation of 90 million and a previous pledge made last month to deliver 40 million doses.
Still, the European Commission said on Tuesday it expects to receive more than 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech in the second quarter, putting the EU on course to meet its vaccination target.
