Belgium is stepping up its seafarer vaccination programme. The European nation, already one of the world’s most proactive states to get crews jabbed, will from Monday up its campaign at its major ports, deploying mobile medical vaccination teams to ships at berth to provide the vaccinations directly on board.

The mobile medical vaccination teams will operate from two maritime medical centers in Antwerp and Zeebrugge, covering the ports of Antwerp, Ghent and Zeebrugge. The vaccine provided will be the Johnson & Johnson single jab vaccine.

The campaign is applicable to seafarers of all nationalities serving on board any type or category of seagoing ship calling in the ports of Antwerp, Ghent or Zeebrugge, who have not yet received a dose of an European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved Covid-19 vaccine in the last 12 months.

Eligible seafarers should provide proof of the following seafarer’s employment agreement as well as a seamen’s book or similar proof of identification.

Any shipping company, captain or agent may apply for the vaccination of crew. Applications should be made at least 48 hours prior to the expected arrival at berth of the vessel, and sent to the following email address mediport@online.be for ships calling at Antwerp and Ghent and to vandammethomas@telenet.be for vessels calling at Zeebrugge.