Belgium hospital begins using Moderna vaccine

The Middelheim hospital in Antwerp started vaccinating its medical staff with Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.

Belgium has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, seeing 20,435 confirmed deaths.

The new variant of COVID-19 first detected in Britain is now starting to gain a foothold in Belgium, officials said, with cases reported several northern schools on top of an outbreak in a nursing home.

In the Antwerp area, two schools reported cases over the weekend and closed Monday for a week due to the new variant.

Authorities said students, teachers and their families should all quarantine for ten days.

(IMAGE CREDITS:AP)