Half of Netherlands won't get repeat Covid vaccination

About half of adult Netherlands residents see no need to get another jab against the coronavirus, NOS reports based on a survey by I&O Research. The new round of coronavirus vaccinations, using the renewed vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna to better protect against the Omicron variant, starts in the Netherlands today.

The researchers expect that the adults who didn’t get the booster shot (36.1 percent of the adult Dutch population) will also not get the repeat shot. Of those who did get the booster, 17 percent said they wouldn’t or probably wouldn’t get the repeat shot. 67 percent of people who got the booster will also get the repeat shot.

Age plays a clear role in the willingness to participate in this round of vaccinations. Young people between the ages of 18 to 34 are most reluctant, with 32 percent saying they won’t or probably won’t get the repeat shot. In the age group just above that, up to 49 years, 22 percent won’t go for the jab.

According to Marjolein van Egmond, professor of immunology at Amsterdam UMC, people often show up less for a second or third injection. “You often hear people say: I think I’ve had enough. But it doesn’t work that way in biology. The virus is still there, the immune system is decreasing, and a repeat shot is to refresh that defense,” she said to NOS. “In the elderly and those in poor health, it could be the difference between going to the hospital or not.”

Van Egmond called it “very likely” that there will be a revival of the coronavirus this autumn. “In the autumn, when it gets colder, people move closer together, and the virus spreads more easily.”