GGD prepares for two more vaccination rounds this year

GGDs are taking into account two additional vaccination rounds in 2022, chair of the GGD GHOR André Rouvoet said in an interview with De Telegraaf. The GGD wants to increase the number of places offering walk-in jabs and set up vaccination sites in residential areas to help the booster campaign.

"We hope to vaccinate groups that have been left behind. Next in line are the people who have not yet received a booster because they were recently infected. We are taking into account two more rounds of injections this year, in roughly May-June and October-November," Rouvoet said.

GGD Covid-19 program director Jaap Eikelboom expected extra measures to increase the turnout in the current booster campaign. "More and more locations are starting to work with walk-in vaccinations. More slots become available the more people we have had. The turnout among people over 60 fluctuates between 80 to 95 percent," Eikelboom said.

"At the same time, we see the turnout of people under 40 is indeed still disappointing. That was also visible during the initial rounds. They generally wait a bit longer until they have to, for example, before the holiday. For them, the walk-in vaccinations are a godsend," the program director added.

Eikelboom acknowledged that the GGDs could have prepared for the booster campaign earlier. "We need to reduce the response time in the future. We will do this by selecting certain core locations where we can vaccinate quickly. And we are thinking of a mobile vaccination force with which we keep close contact, so we can call quickly whenever necessary," Eikelboom said.