Everyone in the Netherlands to Get First Corona Jab by 1 July, Including Students

Everyone in the Netherlands who wants to be vaccinated will get their first shot by  at least 1 July, according to the Dutch government's calculations. This includes international students who are currently residing in the country. The announcement was made by the Dutch health minister, Hugo de Jonge, earlier this week. Provided the vaccines are delivered on schedule, De Jonge added.

Netherlands Vaccination Rate to be Significantly Increased  

So far, over 1.6 million people have been vaccinated in the Netherlands, with the vaccinated rate to speed up in the second quarter of the year as production from the various suppliers is scaled up and more vaccinations enter the market. This week the government announced that it was expecting to up-scale its vaccinations to reach 1.5 million per week by mid-May. 

Of the 17 million people in the Netherlands, of which 14 million are adults, surveys indicate that about 12 million in that group want to have the vaccine. The government estimates that it will have administered about 18 million shots by the end of June. Some vaccines like BioNTech/Pfizer need to be injected twice.

International Students Included 

International students resident in the Netherlands will included in the vaccination programme, also if they have just arrived to start their studies. By July no waiting lists will be expected anymore. 

A survey done by Wittenborg in December 2020 among students and staff indicated that the majority (42%) indicated they will take the vaccine when it becomes available with a further 23% being undecided at that time.  

According to the Wittenborg support team 'we now expect that the majority of students and staff will opt to take the vaccination, especially as there will be the introduction of some kind of European vaccination passport to allow greater freedom and international travel options'. 

It is estimated that healthy people under the age of 50 years will start getting a letter to get vaccinated by around May if all goes as planned. The assumptions is that older people will be first in line – in other words, 49-year-olds will get it first and 18-year-olds last.  

For a daily overview on vaccination, new infections hospital admissions, death rates as well as compliance and support of government measures, visit the government website.  

WUP 9/3/2021
by James Wittenborg
©WUAS Press