Minister Ernst Kuipers (Public Health) has asked RIVM and the GGDs to prepare for a new vaccination campaign. There is a good chance that this will start after the summer, in the first place for ‘the most vulnerable’. The cabinet hopes that this will ‘protect this group against serious illness in the autumn and winter’.
This will enable GGDs, among others, to start recruiting and training staff for the implementation of the new campaign. This means that the GGDs must scale up within three weeks to provide 500,000 vaccinations per week. That number can grow to 1.5 million three weeks later.
According to Kuipers, there is no reason for an extra vaccination round yet, but it is ‘probable’ in the course of the year. It is not yet certain whether other target groups are also eligible for a vaccine. However, the cabinet is taking into account a scenario in which everyone from the age of 18 can be vaccinated.
As few measures as possible
Yesterday, the cabinet already announced that it was taking a new round of corona vaccination into account. The effectiveness of vaccines decreases over time. ,,The decision can now be taken more quickly because there is no need to wait for a Health Council recommendation, says Kuipers. “With the experience we now have, we can estimate the variables well: what about the infections, a possible new mutant, which vaccines we have. On the basis of that protocol, RIVM can now assess on a weekly basis whether a moment has come when we have to start injections again, and if so: for which target group? So that can be done much faster.”
GGDs need up to six weeks after a decision to run a vaccination campaign at full speed. “It remains a very contagious virus that you can get several times,” says Kuipers. “We aim for as few measures as possible, we have to look at ourselves how we can reduce the risks for people in our own environment.”
Because the Senate has voted down the temporary corona law, the cabinet must now speed up with an update of the permanent corona law Public Health Act, so that any new Covid measures do have a legal basis. “I hope we can offer it to the House before the summer.”
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