Fewer Amsterdam kids getting vaccinated: Baby vaccination rate down to 83%

The vaccination rate among kids in Amsterdam has fallen for the third year in a row. Babies’ vaccination rate is now well below the 90 percent standard the World Health Organization uses for most vaccinations, which indicates whether a population is well-protected against infectious diseases.

Before 2020, the average vaccination rate for babies under 2 years old was consistently above 90 percent in the Dutch capital, Parool reports based on figures from GGD Amsterdam. In 2021, it fell to 88.7 percent; last year, it fell to 83.3 percent. Similar trends are visible in vaccinations among preschoolers, school-aged children, and teenagers, according to the newspaper.

The differences in vaccination rates across the city are also increasing. In Nieuw-West, only 71 percent of 2-year-olds are vaccinated against mumps, measles, and rubella. In Zuidoost, it is 82.8 percent, and in Centrum and Zuid, 88 percent.

A high vaccination rate is necessary to prevent outbreaks of serious diseases. The decrease in vaccinations increases the risks of measles outbreaks, for example.

Healthcare alderman Alexander Scholtes was “horrified” by the figures, he told Parool. “I recently spoke to someone whose mother had polio and lived her life with paralysis. That happened at the beginning of the last century, and we don’t want polio to return. It is people’s own responsibility whether or not they get vaccinated, but they must realize that they also affect their fellow citizens by not getting vaccinated.”