He was a planner for a private ambulance service, but for the past year and a half Mark van der Bel has been the location coordinator of the large test and vaccination pavilions at Schiphol. “I was asked to help out one day a week, which ended in a year and a half full-time work,” says Mark.
And his work is not over yet. Now that the test and vaccination location at Schiphol is closed, Mark van der Bel will continue to work for the security region. He is starting the development of a new, smaller test location because it will remain possible for the time being to have you tested.
New ‘covid’ professions
The pandemic has indirectly caused an unexpected career switch for thousands. What bartender could have imagined that, dressed in overalls and hairnet, he would be pushing cotton swabs up his nose for days, paid for by the GGD. This also happened to people who were deployed for source and contact research and coordinators of the testing and vaccination locations. “You manage the overall procedure, which is the case in several organizations, but this is a completely different branch of sport,” says van der Bel.
What made it interesting was the changing policy, among other things. Van der Bel was also tense for De Buis when Mark Rutte explained the new guidelines during the weekly press conference. Based on that press conference, van der Bel estimated whether he had a busy or a quiet week ahead.
Van der Bel likes the work and will therefore continue to work for the Kennemerland Safety Region. He does not mind that the location at Schiphol is closed. “The location is of course very large if you only have one line running,” he says.
The corridors in the white pavilion tents are deserted and the shot-down test booths that we have all come to know so well are empty and dusty. The GGD is looking for a place for a new test street. Van der Bel prefers to sit in a tent because you can arrange it yourself. It is not yet certain where the new location will be, but it is very likely that Mark van de Bel will become the location coordinator for the time being.