Covid vaccination rate nears 4.6%; Over 795K first doses given
Of the 1,014,039 Covid-19 vaccine injections administered in the Netherlands through Sunday, 795,326 were the first injection, public health agency RIVM said in data released on Tuesday. Just under 4.6 percent of people living in the country have been at least partially protected against the coronavirus disease.
For those residing at home, the vaccination total includes about 27 percent of people aged 80-84, 61 percent of those from 85-89, and 57 percent of people aged 90 and up.
The other 218,713 jabs were a patient's second dose, which means roughly 1.3 percent of the Dutch population is fully inoculated against Covid-19. Two shots are required for maximum protection when using vaccines produced by Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca, the three currently approved for use in the European Union.
An estimated 48,581 more vaccine doses were also administered on Monday, likely the most in a single day since the vaccination operation began on January 6. That pushed the total up to 1,062,871, according to an RIVM model. Over the past seven days, an average of 37,424 vaccines were given.
Since last week, those in the 60-64 age range at high risk for a debilitating case of Covid-19 were the only new group to begin the vaccination process. This process began with people who have Down's Syndrome or who are morbidly obese. Some 13,386 of them were given the AstraZeneca injection. Thus far, only those born in 1956 or 1957 were invited to schedule an appointment.
It was not immediately clear how an expected delay in vaccine deliveries from AstraZeneca would affect the improving daily figures. Over 215 thousand doses of the vaccine to be delivered next week will not be sent to the Netherlands until later in March.