COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination strategy for Luxembourg
Vaccination information from official sources
In order to make it easier for you to decide whether you want to be vaccinated or not, we have selected the most important information for you from the official publications of the Luxembourg government. We think that it is important to fully inform yourself before an invasive procedure, which can have unwanted side effects, in order to then make a well-founded decision and to stand up for it independently.
We also invite you to read our article about vaccine development.
Vaccines
Luxembourg respectively the European Union have concluded contracts for SARS-Cov-2 vaccines with the following companies (as of January 2020):1
| Companies | Vaccine name | Vaccine typ | Phase |
| BioNTech (DEU) / Pfizer (USA) | BNT162b2 | mRNA-based vaccine | provisional approval in the EU on December 21, 2020 |
| Moderna (USA) | mRNA-1273 | mRNA-based vaccine | Approval in the EU on January 6, 2021 |
| AstraZeneca (SWE) / Oxford University (GBR) | ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) | vector vaccine (based on an adenovirus that cannot replicate in human cells) | provisional approval in the EU on January 29, 2021 |
| Johnson&Johnson (USA) / Janssen (BEL) | Ad26.COV2-S | vector vaccine | phase III |
| CureVac (DEU) | CVnCoV | mRNA-based vaccine | phase IIb/III |
| Sanofi / GSK (USA) | n/a | inactivated vaccine with antigen and adjuvant produced by genetic engineering (with baculoviruses) | phase I/II |
| Source: vfa-Die forschenden Pharma-Unternehmen 2 |
Vaccination strategy
There are two vaccinations in the period of 3 – 4 weeks.
People from the health sector should be vaccinated first. Afterwards vulnerable people, i.e. people who are more at risk of developing Covid-19.
Everyone else will be invited by invitation to make an appointment for the vaccination.
All over Luxembourg there will be so-called vaccination centers where people will receive the vaccinations.3
The vaccine is selected by the doctor who will carry out the vaccination, based on the medical examination and the medical history. 4 (4.4)
Despite the vaccination, the so-called hygiene regulations must be adhered to until further notice (period unknown), as it is not yet clear whether or how long the vaccinated will continue to be infectious.
“… the basic restrictions (wearing a mask, keeping 2 meters physical distance and other safety precautions) will remain.” 4 (5.1)
Mandatory vaccination
Currently, there is no mandatory vaccination for Covid-19 vaccination in Luxembourg, as one can read in the Ministry of Health’s information sheet 4 on COVID-19 vaccination under point 3 ’Your rights’:
“… vaccination will not be a legal requirement.“
and
“ …your employer will not be able to force you to get vaccinated.”
Even though there is currently no requirement to be vaccinated, however, possible restrictions are pointed out.
“ There will be no legal consequences for people that have not been vaccinated. However, there might be measures restricting non-vaccinated people’s access to venues, events, regions or even countries. At this point, no national or international restrictions have been defined.”
Note by Expressis Verbis:
The Council of Europe communicated the following with regard to mandatory vaccination in resolution Resolution 2361 (2021):
“The Assembly thus urges member States and the European Union to: ensure that citizens are informed that the vaccination is NOT mandatory and that no one is politically, socially, or otherwise pressured to get themselves vaccinated, if they do not wish to do so themselves (7.3.1); ensure that no one is discriminated against for not having been vaccinated, due to possible health risks or not wanting to be vaccinated (7.3.2)“ 5
(The Council of Europe consists of 47 states and is home to around 800 million citizens. Its headquarters and headquarters are in Strasbourg. The Council of Europe focuses on measures between the member states and has the task of intensifying and expanding the links between the individual member states Conventions are drawn up by the Council of Europe, but they are not binding and must first be accepted by the member states. Through its resolutions and debates, the Council of Europe wants to promote economic and social progress and thus create higher living standards for all members.)
Responsibility and liability
“In principle, the responsibility for the vaccine lies entirely with the companies that market the vaccines. Their pharmacovigilance obligations (such as the monitoring of adverse events) remain in force. These companies always remain liable and are responsible for compensation if they do not comply with good practice requirements or pharmacovigilance requirements or in case of intentional errors.“ 4(3.2)
As the vaccine candidates come to the market very quickly due to the urgent demand for vaccines and the exceptional circumstances, the participating Member States will in this case indemnify the company concerned from certain compensation claims.
Safety
“… mRNA vaccination is a very modern scientific technology that has so far proven to be extremely safe. Even if no mRNA vaccine has been approved yet, research in this area has already been going on for many years and the current “new” vaccines (e.g. mRNA) are undergoing very strict safety tests and will only be approved once they have passed every single test.”4 (6.4)
More information on the vaccination strategy for Luxembourg can be found here:
https://covid19.public.lu/en/vaccination.html
References:
1 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_20_1662
3 https://www.rtl.lu/news/national/a/1624757.html
4 https://covid19.public.lu/dam-assets/covid-19/vaccinations/2020-12-21-FAQ-Vaccination-EN.pdf
5 https://pace.coe.int/en/files/29004/html
This article was written in German, the French and English versions are translations
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