More Covid vaccination centers opening in NL; Goal 1.5 million shots per week

The GGD aims to administer 1.5 million coronavirus vaccines per week from mid-May. The municipal health service plans to achieve this by opening more vaccination centers, and expanding the existing locations.

The expectation is that the Netherlands' vaccine deliveries will increase significantly by mid-May. On Monday, European Commission chair Ursula von der Leyen said that the European Union will get around 100 million vaccines per week from April - double what was anticipated. She expects an "average of 100 million doses per month in the second quarter, and a total of 300 million by end June," she said according to ANP.

"We are now getting ready, with thousands of passionate GGD workers across the country, and together with many partners such as Defense and the Red Cross, to be able to vaccinate at breakneck speed once peak deliveries of vaccines are available in the second quarter," Andre Rouvoet, chairman of umbrella organization GGD GHOR Nederland, said to the Volkskrant.

By Saturday, the Netherlands had administered an estimated total of 1.59 million coronavirus vaccines, according to the government's coronavirus dashboard. As of Thursday, the Netherlands was in eighth place in Europe for how much of the population received at least their first dose.

The most current projection from the RIVM is that the two millionth shot will be administered about a week from today, and the three millionth in the first week of April. Those projections were made before the announcement that more vaccine locations would open and more vaccine deliveries were expected, and without assuming more vaccine candidates will be recommended for approval by the EMA this month.