The future Health Observatory will collect available data and draw up analyses, Berthet explained during her interview on Tuesday. MPs unanimously approved the creation of the Observatory in February and Berthet is now in charge of its implementation. She explained that the current analyses on the relationship between the health of the population and the resources that are available are only "partially" being carried out. The Observatory will provide more "knowledge and insight". The reports and conclusions will be made public.
Referring to the "Lair" report on the state of the medical professions, Berthet said that "obviously" a lot of work could already be done on the basis of this report, but it has also shown that better data is needed to shed full light on the demography issue.
Regarding the Covid-19 crisis, Berthet reacted to criticism by the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (adr) that the number of hospital beds had been reduced. The National Health Directorate's deputy director rejected the criticism, explaining that any authorisations for hospitals had been issued on the basis of the "Carte sanitaire" report, which provides an overview of the hospital sector. In summer 2021, the Health Observatory will start working on an update of this report, which is expected to be completed by early 2022.
When asked about the vaccination campaign, Berthet stated that there are still a number of sceptics among the population who could not see "the benefits of vaccination for themselves and others". However, the data reveals that as more people receive the vaccine, more and more infections, hospitalisations, and deaths can be avoided. If half of Luxembourg's population was vaccinated, 30 to 40% of all infections and 60 to 70% of all hospitalisations could be avoided.
Berthet thinks it is still too soon to draw any conclusions regarding long-term side effects. However, taking into account all of the data and knowledge collected since the beginning of the vaccination campaign and the hundreds of millions of people who have already been vaccinated, there is "no evidence whatsoever" of any long-term side effects.
Video in French.
