THE HAGUE, The Netherlands (AP) – Nearly two weeks after most other European Union countries, the Netherlands launched its COVID-19 vaccination program on Wednesday, with nursing home staff and frontline workers in hospitals first in line for the shot.
Sanna Elkadiri, a nurse at a nursing home for people with dementia, first received a recording of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at a massive vaccination center in Veghel, 120 kilometers southeast of the capital Amsterdam.
‘This is a very important moment for me as a person working in the healthcare sector. You want to take care in the knowledge that your customers are safe, ”said Elkadiri. “It would not be possible without the vaccine, but from now on I can do it.”
The Dutch government has come under heavy criticism for the late onset of vaccinations. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a debate to lawmakers on Tuesday that the authorities had focused preparations on the easy-to-handle vaccine made by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, which has not yet been approved in the EU, and not the Pfizer. -BioNTech vaccine. .
Dutch Health Minister Hugo de Jonge did not comment on the criticism when he spoke before Elkadiri rolled up the left sleeve of her purple nurse’s uniform to get the first shot. Instead, he looked forward to a future with the virus under control.
“Finally, after ten months of crisis, we are starting to end this crisis today,” De Jonge said. But he warned that ‘it will take a while before we have all the misery behind us. ”
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which requires ultra-cold storage before use, is the only shot approved so far by the European Medicines Agency. The agency is considering approving another coronavirus vaccine, made by Moderna, on Wednesday.
“I am very disappointed that we are two weeks behind other countries,” Rutte said in the Dutch parliament.
The country’s public health institute said about 300,000 carers and hospital staff were first in line for shots. The institute said two more large-scale vaccination centers will open on Friday and by the end of next week, 25 should be open in the country.
Health authorities plan to vaccinate a maximum of 66,000 care workers per week from 18 January.
In a tweet involving the staff involved in the implementation, Dutch King Willem-Alexander called the start of vaccinations “a turning point that offers hope for a way out of this crisis.” ‘
The Netherlands is in the midst of a difficult five-week lockout imposed when infection rates rose across the country. In recent days, infection rates have risen lower, but the country’s health institute said on Tuesday that the closure had not yet had a clear effect on infection rates.
It is confirmed that almost 12,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the Netherlands since the start of the pandemic, although the true number is higher because not all people who died with symptoms were tested.
Andre Rouvoet, chairman of the umbrella organization of local health authorities, welcomes the first vaccinations that were broadcast live on Dutch television.
“This is symbolic of the hundreds of thousands – millions – of vaccinations that will be administered in the Netherlands in the coming months,” he said.
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