Dutch Health Council advises Covid boosters for all adults, starting with oldest

The Dutch Health Council advised booster shots against the coronavirus for all adults younger than 60. They must be administered from old to young, no matter what kind of vaccine they had in the first place. The Council also recommends that Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines be used as boosters, regardless of the previously administered vaccine.

The previously administered AstraZeneca and Janssen shots provide slightly lower protection than Pfizer and Moderna. Still, the differences are not significant, and prioritizing one group over the other could delay the booster campaign, the Council said.

The Cabinet decided that people under the age of 60 can also receive a booster shot against Covid-19. They will have to wait until people over 60, residents of healthcare institutions, and healthcare staff with direct patient contact have been jabbed.

According to the Health Council, all vaccines still offer good protection against the disease, but the organization sees indications that the protection is declining "somewhat." "Now that the number of infections is high, the risk of vaccinees under the age of 60 becoming seriously ill also increases."

The Council also sees no reason to take into account people who already have another condition in the injection sequence. "There are no data to indicate that the vaccines work less well in certain groups, except for people with a severe immune disorder. They have already received the third shot for that reason."