Cabinet has money ready to completely re-vaccinate population against Covid

The cabinet is taking serious account of having to completely re-vaccinate the entire Netherlands population against Covid-19 next year. The Ministry of Public Health put 134 million euros aside for this in its budget, which was presented last week, describing the amount as for "the maximum scenario (whole population re-injected twice)", NRC reports.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports told the newspaper that the money is reserved for "the implementation campaign of vaccination in 2022". The Ministry emphasized that it is currently not certain whether re-vaccination of the entire population will be necessary. That "depends on the level of protection and contamination", the spokesperson said. The budget takes the maximum scenario into account "in the context of good preparation".

A number of European countries, including Germany and France, are already offering booster shots - third doses of the Covid-19 vaccines - to vulnerable groups like the elderly. Belgium recently announced this option for all people over 65. The Dutch cabinet decided to give a third shot to several hundred thousand people with serious immune disorders, for whom the first two vaccinations did not lead to sufficient protection against the virus. These boosters will be offered from next month. This was done on the advice of the Dutch Health Council, which said that a third shot is not necessary at the moment for more of the population.