Dutch hospitals to begin giving Covid vaccines to "young, healthy people"

Sixty hospitals in the Netherlands will be set up to become Covid-19 vaccination sites by the end of May. They will be tasked primarily with vaccinating "young, healthy people" as part of a push to increase the rate in which people are inoculated against the coronavirus disease, a spokesperson for acute care network LNAZ confirmed to Nieuwsuur.

The goal is for hospitals to vaccinate up to a million people per week by the end of June. "We are busy preparing this," the spokesperson said. "In principle, injections can be done from the end of May, if all deliveries of the vaccines come through, of course." About 4.3 million doses are expected to be delivered in May.

Health Minister Hugo de Jonge previously said that 1.5 million people would receive vaccinations weekly in the Netherlands beginning in May, with a goal of increasing that to 2.5 million weekly by the end of June. This calendar week, by comparison, the RIVM is projecting that 815 thousand vaccine doses will be given, likely the second highest weekly total to date.

Municipal health service GGD also said on Wednesday it was also scaling up its operations to be able to vaccinate a million people per week by the end of May. De Jonge has been steadfast in his assertion that all adults residing in the Netherlands will be able to receive at least one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine by the start of July.

The LNAZ said it was not concerned about sufficient staffing for the program, with nurses and students recruited to handle the injections under supervision. It said the additional vaccination capacity will be added during off-peak hours.

The involvement of hospitals will not affect how people are invited for the vaccination, and how they can schedule an appointment.