Government turns back on vaccinations, acute care workers now a priority

Photo: SELF Magazine

The Dutch cabinet turned around and decided to start by vaccinating 30,000 acute-care hospital staff against the coronavirus and possibly bringing forward the start date of the vaccination program.

Hospital heads and other experts had urged the government to launch the program with hospital staff to reduce absenteeism rates.

Health Minister Hugo de Jonge has repeatedly said the Netherlands will not start rolling out its vaccination program until January 8, with nursing home staff and residents lining up first for the vaccine.

However, on Saturday he announced the review, saying the goal was to clarify by Monday when the new approach could begin.

‘The worrying situation in acute care was in part caused by illness among healthcare workers, which is often related to corona, ”the Ministry of Health statement said. “This is why acute care workers are part of the group to qualify for vaccination first.

Earlier this week, the hospital’s head of patient coordination, Ernst Kuipers, and head of acute care, Diederik Gommers, said hospital workers should be vaccinated first as this is essential for hospitals are functioning.

On Wednesday, it emerged that dozens of Dutch hospitals may no longer be able to offer critical but non-urgent care. Kuipers expects hospitals to treat some 3,000 coronavirus patients by early January, well above the total at the height of the first wave, he told Nieuwsuur on Wednesday evening.

Currently, around 9,500 new cases of coronavirus per day are recorded, although the figures may be skewed by the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Gommers called the government’s change of mind “good news.”

“It’s really important to use, especially given the information about the new British variant,” he said in the Volkskrant. “At the moment, we are just facing it… but if this variant wins in the Netherlands, more staff will fall ill and the number of patients will also increase.