First Janssen coronavirus vaccine administered in Leiden

Babette Engelsman, an employee of a GGZ mental healthcare facility, was the first person in the Netherlands to receive the Janssen Covid-19 vaccine. She was given the shot at the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave in Leiden on Wednesday morning, under a portrait of the 17th and 18th century Dutch physician and physiology pioneer Herman Boerhaave.

"A beautiful historical moment," De Jonge said. "With Janssen we are on track to vaccinate people with a high medical risk and 60+ people by the second half of May."

De Jonge was enthusiastic about “reaching the milestone of the first shot with a Dutch vaccination on Dutch soil." The vaccine was created in part by workers at the Janssen Vaccines laboratory in Leiden.

In total, five GGZ employees were to be vaccinated with the Janssen vaccine today at the museum under the eyes of Health Minister Hugo de Jonge and the Mayor of Leiden, Henri Lenferink.

“We really need the vaccine for our profession; We have to work close to each other sometimes”, Engelman said, according to the ANP.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) previously established a possible link between the Janssen vaccine and eight cases of unusual blood clot formation in the United States, similar to thrombosis cases with the AstraZeneca vaccine. Nonetheless, the EMA stated the benefits of the Janssen vaccine outweigh the risks, as the eight blood clot patients were found out of over seven million who were given the shot.

This message was reiterated by de Jonge during the press conference on Tuesday.

Last week, the Netherlands received just under 80 thousand doses of the vaccine. The Janssen vaccine is mainly intended for hospital workers in direct contact with patients and employees and patients in mental health institutions. This coming Friday and Monday the vaccines will be delivered to hospitals and mental health facilities across the country.

Until July, the Netherlands expects to administer three million vaccinations with the Janssen vaccine. Overall, 39 thousand employees under 60 are expected to receive the Janssen vaccine.