Covid vaccinations up for 3rd straight day; Infections near 300-day low

Healthcare workers in the Netherlands administered 224,934 Covid-19 vaccine doses on Saturday, which brought the seven-day moving average up for the third consecutive day. The average was 206,411 on the news, 2 percent lower than a week ago, according to preliminary data from the Ministry of Health.

A total of 15,121,633 vaccinations have been given since the start of the campaign, including 1,218,428 administered  this calendar week. Nearly 1.5 million were expected through the end of Sunday.

The 16 millionth shot will likely be given on Wednesday or Thursday.

Those who are fully vaccinated against the disease, or who recently tested negative for the coronavirus infection, were able to enter nightclubs and entertainment venues on Saturday for the first time in months. There were large crowds at many locations in cities all across the country.

"What was striking was that many young people were drunk early, probably because they were finally able to go back," a police spokesperson told NOS about the situation in Breda and Tilburg.

Public health agency RIVM also said Sunday that 522 more people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the lowest in a day since the first week of September. That brought the seven-day average down to 636, a number which has fallen by 31 percent in a week.

The three cities with the most new infections were Amsterdam (27), Rotterdam (27) and The Hague (22). All three were below their respective moving averages.

Updated hospital data was not released by the LCPS on Sunday. There were 363 people with Covid-19 in care on Friday, down 32 percent from the previous week.

There were 147 patients in intensive care, and 216 in regular care on Friday.

To date, people have tested positive for the coronavirus infection 1,683,271 times.