Our flag-bearers in the fight against coronavirus

24/03/2021

Several leading Belgian experts have been in the front line on the international stage during the coronavirus pandemic. Focus on Belgium puts some of them in the spotlight.

The most famous is undeniably Peter Piot. Appointed as the "COVID-19 Advisor" to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, he was already well known for his discoveries relating to the Ebola virus. He was also head of the UNAIDS agency for many years.

In the World Health Organization (WHO), Hans Kluge plays a key role as Regional Director for Europe.

Pierre Delsaux, number two in the Department of Health at the European Commission, has worked on the crisis plan to detect the variants of the virus and ensure the centralised management of the production and distribution of vaccines in central Europe. Another vaccine specialist, Luc Debruyne, also advises the European Commission in the management of the pandemic.

Other Belgians also occupy important positions in major pharmaceutical groups. One of them is Paul Stoffels, Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson, whose single-dose vaccine has just been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA); another is Jean Stéphenne, President of CureVac, a German company working with the GSK site in Wavre.

As well as these eminent experts, many others clearly deserve to be commended for their work in the fight against coronavirus. #ensemblecontrecorona #togetheragainstcorona