Covid-19 vaccine uptake continues to slow; Only 75,000 received a first shot last week

The number of first Covid-19 vaccine shots that have been administered in the Netherlands has slowed to a crawl, according to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). This applies to most age groups, the institute said in its report about the vaccination figures covering the past calendar week.

More than 725,000 Covid-19 vaccinations were given last week. The Ministry of Health said last week it expected nearly 900,000 shots would be administered from Monday through Sunday. A person’s second Covid-19 vaccine dose accounted for about 650,000 of the shots given last week.

That means only about 75 thousand vaccine shots administered last week were given to someone for the first time, including 4,600 shots of the Janssen vaccine which requires one shot for maximum protection. The Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines require two shots, unless a person recently recovered from Covid-19.

Only the youngest age group showed a slight increase in the number of first injections, according to the RIVM. Of all teens born between 2004 and 2009, 46 percent have now received their first vaccination. Some of the young people born in 2009 have yet to reach the age of 12 and are therefore not able to make an appointment for an injection.

Excluding them, the turnout among 12 to 17-year-olds is currently at 49 percent. About 15 percent of this group has already been fully vaccinated.

It is estimated that nearly 75 percent of adults have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Nearly 85 percent have received at least a first shot. In the younger age groups, the percentage of people who are fully vaccinated is still increasing.

Roughly 49 percent of adults up to the age of 25 have now been fully vaccinated, 52 percent among 26 to 30 year olds and 55 percent among 31 to 35 year olds. Vaccination coverage has also increased slightly among 36 to 40-year-olds; 62 percent are now fully vaccinated. However, vaccination coverage has increased only slightly or has stabilized among older age groups.

In total, about 22.4 million shots were given up to and including last Sunday. Roughly 12.4 million of these were a person’s first vaccine shot, including over 780 thousand doses of the Janssen Vaccine. The other 10 million shots were a person’s second dose of any other vaccine.