Time between Covid-19 vaccine doses to become shorter and more flexible: De Jonge

The time between the first and second Covid-19 vaccination will become shorter and more flexible in the upcoming weeks, Health Minister Hugo de Jonge announced in a letter to the Tweede Kamer. De Jonge did not state how much shorter the interval between the two jabs will become.

Shortening the interval is possible, due to the fact that enough vaccines are available. There is currently a waiting period of six weeks between the two doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccine. Full protection is achieved two weeks after the last shot.

By giving people their second shot of the BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna vaccine earlier, they will become fully protected faster, De Jonge said. For the Janssen vaccine, only one shot is needed.

According to the health minister, the GGD will adjust the vaccination schedule in the upcoming weeks. De Jonge also wrote that the GGD will lower other ‘thresholds for vaccination’.