NL residents who refused AstraZeneca vaccine to be given different shot

Netherlands residents who refused to get the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZenca, will soon be invited to get a different vaccine, caretaker Public Health Minster Hugo de Jonge said to Nieuwsuur on Monday.

This involves Netherlands residents over the age of 60, who were invited to get the AstraZeneca vaccine administered by their general practitioner. They will now be invited to be vaccinated by health service GGD, which administers Covid-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer, Moderna or Janssen.

Exactly how many people refused the AstraZeneca vaccine is not clear. In April, the Dutch Health Council advised that the vaccine should no longer be administered to people under the age of 60, as side effects from this vaccine mainly appeared in younger people. This, combined with the fact that the Dutch government twice paused the use of the vaccine to investigate possible side effects, created mistrust and doubts about the vaccine's efficacy among older Dutch still getting the vaccine.

A GP in Utrecht's Kanaleneiland district told Nieuwsuur that 70 percent of people they invited to get the AstraZeneca shot, refused the vaccine. "A large part of them want a different vaccine. They are afraid of side effects, afraid of thrombosis, afraid that they will drop dead," doctor Nanja Danhof said.

Over 16,800 people signed a petition asking the government to let people over the age of 60 choose what vaccine they want. So far the government's policy has been that you get the vaccine that is available and matches the Dutch Health Council's advice. Whether those who refused AstraZeneca vaccines will be allowed to choose which vaccine they get administered by the GGD, is not yet clear.