Prime minister Xavier Bettel (DP) during a party congress on Monday evening had said all adults should receive an invitation to get vaccinated by mid-July. Invitations are sent in descending order by age.

The last phase of the vaccination campaign is by far the largest. As of 1 January 2021, there were 354,694 residents aged between 16 and 54 living in Luxembourg. This compares to 79,370 people aged 55 to 64, the fifth group to get invited to get vaccinated. Phase five of the vaccination campaign began during the week of 5 April.

The government is yet to update public information on vaccine deliveries scheduled, which it publishes as part of its weekly virus dashboard. In the latest version, it said enough doses for 127,840 people were expected by the end of April.

Health minister Paulette Lenert (LSAP) in answer to a parliamentary question said Luxembourg was looking into buying AstraZeneca doses that other countries aren’t using. Denmark and Norway, for example, decided to stop administering the jab after the European Medicines Agency confirmed a possible link to a rare type of blood clot.

Luxembourg in response made access to the jab voluntary, and people interested in getting the vaccine can sign up to receive it online on a first-come, first-served basis. Around 18,000 people signed up during the first few hours of the platform going live.

Healthcare workers and people with pre-existing conditions were given priority access to the vaccine but Luxembourg identified no other professional groups in its strategy to be given the vaccine earlier.

A civil service union on Monday had repeated calls for teachers and police officers to be given priority within their age group as frontline workers.