Dutch military to help GGD with Covid-19 vaccinations from Monday

Starting on Monday, the Dutch military will begin assisting the GGD with administering Covid-19 vaccinations in Arnhem and Barneveld. This is the first time military personnel will be helping out with Covid-19 vaccinations in the Netherlands, though they have provided support at test centers in the past.

For the upcoming five weeks, 16 soldiers will either help directly by placing injections in people’s arms, or by keeping an eye on patients who received a shot to make sure they do not suffer from an allergic reaction or other immediate side effects.

The initiative began after the Gelderland-Midden branch of municipal health service GGD put out a call for extra staff to help vaccinate the public against Covid-19. The Ministry of Defense had anticipated this type of request and trained military personnel for the task.

The 16 soldiers that were selected to perform the task came from the Airmobile Brigade 11 in Schaarsbergen. They will continue working with the GGD until July 4.

Since January, the Ministry of Defense has made around one thousand soldiers available to help out at the regional health services in their fight against the coronavirus.