Everyone 60 and over can now book Covid boosters

All residents in their sixties can now make an appointment for a booster shot against Covid-19. People born in 1960 and 1961 can make an appointment online from Tuesday, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) reports.

Of the people born in 1961, a very small proportion are even in their fifties, as their birthdays are in the last two weeks of the year. In principle, people under sixty are due for their jab from January.

Anyone wishing to receive a booster shot must have had their last vaccination at least six months earlier. Anyone who has subsequently become infected with the virus must wait six months from that moment on until the booster shot can be given.

Those who prefer to make an appointment by phone rather than online may have to wait until they receive an invitation letter in their mailbox.

Health Minister Hugo de Jonge announced on Monday that he wants to accelerate the booster campaign even further, to prevent issues due to the rise of the Omicron variant. The minister also announced earlier the process would be sped up, which means that from this week about 700,000 injections per week must be administered. At that rate, everyone will have had their turn by March.

Compared to the rest of Europe, the Netherlands started the booster campaign very late, and the initial vaccination process also got off to a slow start.