RIVM: Covid vaccine database more complete; Not yet where it should be

Dutch public health agency RIVM said that it caught up on ten percent of missing Covid-19 vaccine records, with 77 percent of all vaccine injections now accounted for. The effort has been ongoing, particularly after the Outbreak Management Team's experts warned that 30% of data was missing from the system, making it difficult to track true vaccination coverage, continued effectiveness of each vaccine used, and the emergence of side effects.

The OMT warned in April that it was essential that an accurate overview of the vaccination process be available. Thus far, the RIVM has only provided an estimate of the number of vaccine shots given, using a model that assumes a fixed percentage of doses are wasted after the vials are shipped from a warehouse facility in Oss to the organization or doctor providing individual shots.

The overview of the national vaccination campaign is now slightly more complete compared to two weeks ago when but not yet where the experts said it should be, Nu.nl reported. According to the RIVM, 77 percent of information regarding people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 is now stored in the national database called CIMS, which is an increase of 10 percent compared to two weeks ago.

Some 28 separate computer systems from hospitals, the GGD municipal health services, healthcare agencies, and family doctors are used to collect data about who received a vaccine, which company's vaccine they received, and when a vaccine was given. However, the vaccine recipient must first provide permission for that information to be shared with the CIMS system.

The OMT previously stated that about 92 percent of people who get a vaccine from the GGD give their consent. However, it is “considerably less for vaccinations carried out by other parties,” the OMT said. An alternative system stripped of personally identifiable information was used even less often, they added.

Following the criticism, the RIVM started approaching general practitioners and healthcare institutions directly asking them to provide the missing information.

An estimated 5,980,676 shots were administered in the country through Wednesday, with the six millionth shot given on Thursday.