On the threshold of autumn, a new vaccination campaign against the coronavirus begins. The repeat shot should give the immune system a boost, so that people are better protected if a new corona wave comes in the autumn or winter.
The first repeat injections will be made today. People who are at high risk of becoming seriously ill if they contract corona will be given priority. These are, for example, the elderly, people who live in a care institution and people with Down syndrome. People who work in healthcare are also among the first to act, to prevent healthcare from getting bogged down in a new wave.
The rest of the population will follow later. Anyone aged 12 years and older who has had the first round of injections, the so-called basic series, can receive the repeat injection. This is about 80 percent of all people aged 12 years and older. In Drenthe there are vaccination locations in Assen, Meppel, Hoogeveen and Emmen.
Gerjan Lubbers of GGD Drenthe indicates that the corona virus is not gone yet, and also says that measures are not excluded, despite the World Health Organization indicating that the corona pandemic is almost under control. “In Germany, for example, a face mask obligation is being reintroduced. This is not yet the case in the Netherlands.”
The researchers expect that adults who have not been boosted (36.1 percent of all adult Dutch people) will not get a repeat shot. Of the people who have been ‘boosted’, 17 percent say they will not or probably not get the repeat shot, the study shows.
On the other hand, 67 percent of boosted people will probably show up for such a jab. 6 percent of those boosted have already been vaccinated with a repeat shot.
Age clearly plays a role in the choice of whether or not to go for a repeat shot. The willingness to vaccinate is lowest among boosted young people (18 to 34 years old). No fewer than 32 percent say they will not or probably will not go for another repeat shot, compared to 44 percent who (probably) will.
Also in the age category above (35-49), 22 percent of the boosted Dutch say they do not, or probably not, opt for a repeat jab.
The research also shows that more and more people believe that vaccination should be a free choice. 71 percent say it should stay that way. In December 2021, when the infection rate was still very high, 49 percent of the Dutch thought so.
The number of people in favor of compulsory vaccination is also shrinking; 14 percent think it should be. In December last year, that percentage was still at 36 percent.
The people who have the shot get the vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech or that from Moderna. These have recently been adjusted so that they work better against the new omikron variant of the coronavirus. The earlier vaccines are based on the first version of the virus, which appeared at the end of 2019. A few changes make ‘omikron’ look different.