“Everything is in place” to start COVID-19 vaccinations very early next year.
That according to the Dutch Health Department (RIVM). The Dutch Minister of Health, Hugo De Jonge said this week that “if all goes well”, vaccinations will begin around 4 January. Jaap van Delden, the COVID- vaccination programme director calls this plan “really ambitious”.
Van Delden says a lot of preparations have already been completed. But “much work remains to be done”. The RIVM is still considering which target group will benefit the most from a vaccine. And how vaccines can be stored and transported.
Some should be first in line
There are certain groups of the population that should get this jab first, he says. These are nursing home residents and those living in institutions for the mentally challenged, as well as health care workers. According to Van Delden, this doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be the first to receive this vaccine.
“It may also be that care homes vaccinate their nursing staff first,” he explains. The residents would then only get their turn later. But, they’d already be partly better-protected because the staff has been vaccinated.
Source: NOS
Translator: Melinda Walraven
