Netherlands reaches 4 million Covid vaccinations; Covid-19 hospital total falls

The Netherlands administered its four millionth dose of a Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday, according to estimates provided by public health agency RIVM. Vaccine estimates were revised up by 19 percent on Wednesday, effectively adding 601 thousand administered vaccine doses to the country's tally.

Total jabs given stood at 4,020,836, a single-day increase of 120,372. That was likely the most vaccine injections given in one day since the vaccination program began on January 6. The Ministry of Health said it expected to provide 757,719 injections by the end of the calendar week.

The revised data put the Netherlands back in the top quartile of the thirty European Economic Area countries. The Netherlands was tied with Iceland for injecting 21.6 percent of the adult population with a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. The country was in 26th place for the fully-vaccinated public, at 6.1 percent.

The RIVM said the revision was down to a change in its model to estimate the amount of Covid-19 vaccine doses lost to spoilage, particularly at the offices of general practitioners and care facilities. That figure was brought down from five percent to one percent, and applied to estimates retroactively.

If accurate, figures provided by the Dutch government to European officials showed that 3.11 million adults have received a first jab, and 880 thousand received their second injection of a two-dose vaccine.

Covid-19 hospital figures fall below 2,500

Dutch hospitals were treating 2,499 people with Covid-19 on Wednesday, a two percent decrease in 24 hours. The total was also two percent lower compared to one week ago, a trend which could lead to their being fewer than 2,450 patients in care next week.

The total included 1,715 patients in regular care, a net decrease of 45. There were also 784 patients in intensive care, a net decrease of ten. For two weeks, the intensive care total has held above 700, which has pushed the hospital system to increase ICU capacity up to 1,550. Extending capacity further may not be possible, according to a health inspectorate report released on Wednesday. Nearly two-thirds of all current ICU patients in the Netherlands have Covid-19.

Some 274 more Covid-19 patients were admitted into hospital care between the afternoons of Tuesday and Wednesday. That included 46 intensive care patients. Over the past seven days, an average of 301 patients have been admitted into care.

Coronavirus infections fall on data outlier

The RIVM also said on Wednesday that another 5,503 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the lowest total in nine days. Nationally, the moving average fell for the first six days, dropping to 7,231 on Wednesday's news. The total was still 35 percent higher compared to a month ago.

The data released included sharply below-average totals in The Hague (199), Rotterdam (189) and Amsterdam (168), suggesting the possibility of an incomplete dataset. The moving average in The Hague stood at 239, in Amsterdam was 264, and in Rotterdam a whopping 346. Those three cities have the highest single-day and average totals out of all Dutch municipalities.

People in the Netherlands have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection 1,369,411 times since the end of February 2020. The RIVM has been notified of 16,848 deaths from Covid-19, though the real total of fatal cases is likely far higher.