Kuipers does not share the concerns of the House about insufficient capacity at the GGDs to be able to vaccinate many people quickly as soon as necessary. Three million people can be vaccinated within six weeks. That seems sufficient to him.
He is, however, concerned about the vaccination rate; in the latest round of vaccinations, the turnout was “disappointing,” said the minister. In that round, earlier this year, all people over 60 and people with vulnerable health were able to get a second booster shot. A lot of people haven’t done that.
Kuipers does not want to meet the widely shared wish of the House of Representatives to expand IC capacity. That capacity is sufficient, he said. There are now 993 operational IC beds; beds for which staff is scheduled. Of these, 686 were in use on Thursday. There are corona patients in 24 of these beds.
Healthcare staff
If necessary, it can be scaled up to 1,700 IC beds. IC departments cannot handle more, said the minister. There is then insufficient staff available per patient. Regular care will also come under pressure.
Kuipers cannot now indicate when stricter measures are needed. In the previous crisis, the pressure on healthcare and IC occupancy was the main factor in the measures to be taken. “The situation is different now. There are and will be other variants and many people have been infected,” the minister clarified. “I can’t predict now whether the number of infections will be leading, or the pathogenicity of a variant.”
The minister noted that the cabinet now has no legal options to impose measures, such as wearing face masks or keeping a distance. That legal basis has been removed after the Senate rejected a new extension of the Temporary Corona Act in mid-May.
Only after an amendment to the Public Health Act (Wpg) can the cabinet impose mandatory measures again. The minister will submit a proposal to the House at the end of August. If the need arises, Kuipers can resort to emergency regulations, as was the practice at the beginning of the corona crisis.