Annual Covid vaccine booster recommended for vulnerable population, healthcare workers

People aged 60 and older, healthcare workers and people with medical risks, including pregnant women, should be offered a repeat vaccination shot against Covid-19 every year, the Dutch Health Council said in advice to the Cabinet. This vaccine round should be organized in the autumn, possibly in combination with the flu jab for which they already qualify, the Council wrote on Wednesday. This will offer optimal protection in the winter, "but it should be possible to get a vaccination all year round.”

In total, about 4 million people could get the Covid-19 booster shot, the council predicted. Advice about the "structural vaccination program" was sent to Health Minister Ernst Kuipers who will then have to decide how to proceed.

The people from groups at a higher or extremely higher medical risk include those with with Down's syndrome, people who are morbidly obese, patients who have undergone an organ transplant or are on the waiting list, and people with kidney failure.

Pregnant women are also eligible for the repeat shot. A Covid-19 infection can lead to serious health complaints potentially resulting in premature birth. According to the Council, it is best to vaccinate them at 22 weeks of pregnancy. That has the best effect at reducing the risk of Covid-19 complications. For those women, the shot does not necessarily have to be given in the autumn, but can be combined with the vaccine against whooping cough, for example.

Last autumn, people were able to go to vaccination locations organized by their local GGD branch to get the Covid-19 booster shot. If that vaccination is now combined with the flu jab, this may be organized by their family doctor. The Health Council said the manner in which new vaccine rounds are arranged tests with the minister.

It is not necessary to structurally vaccinate healthy people aged 59 and younger, the Council said. They are still sufficiently protected from antibodies and prior vaccinations, and a new booster will "contribute relatively little to additional protection against serious illness,” according to the Council.

It is the first advisory report from the Health Council about tackling the coronavirus since the end of the pandemic. The virus is now part of everyday life, and is thus considered to be endemic. That does not mean that the virus has disappeared, because people are still getting infected, with some requiring hospitalization due to severe symptoms.

In addition, people are still dying from the consequences of the infection. These are mainly people from the risk groups, for whom the Health Council has recommended the annual booster shot.