First Covid booster shots for elderly people today

For the first time, older people in the Netherlands will receive booster shots against the coronavirus. The extra vaccination should strengthen their defense against the virus because the protection may decrease slightly over time. The first injection will be given at a GGD location in The Hague on Thursday, in the presence of caretaker Health Minister Hugo de Jonge.

The booster vaccinations were scheduled to only start on December 6. Due to the rapidly increasing number of positive tests, this was brought forward to November 19, but now the injections are starting a day earlier.

In the first phase, approximately 875,000 people aged 80 years and older can get an extra shot. In addition, about 700,000 healthcare workers are eligible for the extra vaccination. They were vaccinated early this year. Their protection may now begin to diminish slightly. And the elderly are at greater risk of a coronavirus infection anyway. Presumably, from January, 3.4 million people aged 60 to 79 can get a booster shot. Everyone will get a Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna shot, even if they previously got another vaccine.