People aged 70 and older, residents of nursing homes and adults with Down syndrome or a serious immune disorder are invited for a second booster vaccination, or a fourth corona jab. That is what Minister Ernst Kuipers (Public Health, D66) wrote to the House of Representatives on Thursday.
Kuipers thus follows the advice of the Health Council, which advised the minister last Friday to offer such a fourth injection in the short term. According to the Health Council, this is necessary ‘as a precaution’ because of uncertainty about the further course of the current Omikron wave and indications in international studies that the effect of the first booster shot decreases in the oldest age groups.
Kuipers writes to the House that the elderly and vulnerable can get their fourth shot “to maintain protection against serious illness and hospitalization”. According to the minister, this is important at the moment because the number of infections in the oldest age groups is still increasing.
The first people over 70 and vulnerable will receive an invitation on Saturday, and new booster shots will be started next week. People don’t get an invitation until they have had their last shot three months ago. In the second half of March, the Health Council will assess whether more Dutch people are eligible for a fourth shot.
This article is also part of our live blog: Fourth shot available for people over 70 and part of the vulnerable