Covid vaccination figures jump 120,000 as gov't starts reporting estimates

Between Saturday and Sunday, the number of Covid-19 vaccinations reported on the government's coronavirus dashboard jumped by around 120 thousand, increasing from 226,298 injections reported on Saturday to 346,790 reported on Sunday. This is due to a new way of calculating the number of estimated vaccinations, the Ministry of Public Health said.

Along with the massive jump in vaccinations, the following text was added to the coronavirus dashboard on Sunday, according to AD: "The vaccination figures published on this dashboard until 30 January 2021 were often incomplete in practice. Hospitals and long-term care facilities often did not report the number of injections until later, resulting in under-reporting. In order to arrive at the best possible estimate of the number of injections given, this will temporarily be replaced from 31 January 2021 by an arithmetic assumption."

That text was no longer on the dashboard on Monday. Instead the dashboard showed two vaccination figures - an estimate and the reported number. According to the figures updated on January 31, an estimated 346,790 coronavirus vaccines were administered. This figure is based on 176,286 vaccinations reported by the GGD. And estimates of 81,088 vaccinations done by hospitals and an estimated 89,416 vaccinations done by long-term care institutions.

The number of reported vaccinations is 176,286 - those administered by the GGDs.

The estimates are based on doses delivered to the GGDs, hospitals and long-term care institutions. It is unclear whether the estimate takes wastage into account. A batch of doses might not be used if the vials were broken, or it spoiled outside of a refrigerator, for example.

A spokesperson for public health institute RIVM told NL Times that the figures reported in its weekly vaccination update on Tuesdays are actual vaccine doses administered, not doses delivered.

The national acute care network LNAZ called the Ministry's explanation that there was under-reporting from the hospitals and long-term care facilities "completely incorrect". LNAZ has been reporting vaccination figures on a daily basis from January 6, a spokesperson for the network said to NOS. "Since the hospitals also vaccinate GPs, the LNAZ has also reported the vaccination figures of the GPs. Both figures were repeatedly reported to the Ministry of Public Health, and published don the LNAZ website, the VWS dashboard and in the media."

Political reporter Lars Geerts thinks that the fact that the government is now reporting estimates instead of actual people inoculated has to do with recent criticism. "The Ministry was recently criticized for the progress of vaccinations and would like to show that more vaccinations are being done than the figures show," he said to NOS. "They have therefore chosen to make an estimate based on the number of doses of vaccine delivered."