Netherlands decides to completely halt use of AstraZeneca vaccine

The Dutch municipal healthcare centers GGDs have now stopped administering AstraZeneca vaccines completely to prevent waste. This step was taken in consultation with the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and the public health agency RIVM, says a spokeswoman for the umbrella organization GGD GHOR.

On Friday, it was already decided to temporarily stop vaccinating people under the age of 60 after five new reports of blood clottings and other side effects among women between 25 and 65 years.

According to the GGD GHOR, the decision benefits the efficiency of the vaccination campaign, even though 700 people will miss their appointment as a result. "Those people would be passing through seventy to eighty locations in the coming days. That means one to five per place per day. Since we get ten, eleven, or twelve injections from a bottle, that would lead to waste, and we canceled them by text message," the spokesperson said.

According to her, there is no stock available, and the GGDs only receive what is needed. "So nothing is left on the shelf with us."