Prime minister Xavier Bettel (DP), health minister Paulette Lenert (LSAP), city mayor Lydie Polfer (DP) and deputy mayor Serge Wilmes (CSV) and national protection high commissioner (HCPN) Luc Feller were at the centre to watch the exercise and get a debriefing on progress.

The simulation exercise involved 80 personnel from the army, customs administration and the CGDIS first responder service. When it starts being operational the centre will have a staff of 55, including doctors and qualified nurses.

Luxembourg is still waiting for the European Medicines Agency to give approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The EMA has brought forward its meeting to discuss approval to Monday 21 December. Until then the health authorities do not want to speculate on how many vaccine doses the grand duchy will be receiving and how many vaccinations per day it can conduct.

The other vaccination centres are being located at the Luxembourg Air Rescue hangar in Findel, in Belval in the south, in the sports hall of the neuro-psychiatric hospital in Ettelbrück in the north. A further centre for the east of the country will also open for when the vaccine becomes available.