Health Ministry denies that Dancing with Janssen was prompted by broken cooler

A broken cooler at a Covid-19 vaccination center in Nieuwegein on June 7 had absolutely nothing to do with "dancing with Janssen", a spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health said on Thursday in response to a report by television program Propaganda, NOS reports.

The program reported that the cabinet started pushing the Janssen vaccine on young people -promoting it as their chance to quickly get back into newly reopened nightclubs - after a short circuit caused a cooler in Nieuwegein to break and leaving a load of Janssen doses at risk of spoiling. 

But according to the Ministry spokesperson, the cabinet decided to use a large delivery of Janssen vaccines that became available at the time on target groups who wanted or needed to be fully vaccinated. This included young people - "Not every twenty-something wants to come back for a second vaccination", the spokesperson said - but also soldiers on mission and homeless people.

The approaching summer holiday also played a role in the cabinet approving the use of Janssen vaccines for young people. "We wanted to offer young people the opportunity to travel protected as soon as possible, to be able to live a more normal and open life protected again," the spokesperson said. It was with that idea that Health Minister Hugo de Jonge made the "dancing with Janssen" appeal, the Ministry said.