Too few elderly people are vaccinated
General practitioner Hans Gimbel indicates that most people in their 60s and 70s in his region have not yet had a single shot. He and his colleagues are obliged to explain to callers that only 75- to 80-year-olds can now be jabbed, but also 63 and 64-year-olds. This is very confusing.Many GPs believe that vaccinating people over 60 can be much more efficient. No subgroups are needed. Rotterdam GP Reis Kurt indicates that he prefers to send his patients a letter with the date and time of the injection, instead of having to call or email them themselves. In addition, there are so many RIVM rules that make it difficult for doctors to get a box of vaccines. Many practices also receive too few vaccines.
GPs want to vaccinate
The National Association of General Practitioners is still regularly called by doctors whose patients may be vaccinated one moment and not the next. It always runs very smoothly with the flu shot, and they would have liked to see that with the corona vaccine.
According to Kurt, most GPs are eager to peck their patients. They are shocked by the large number of people who have not yet been vaccinated. Only 15 percent of 75- to 80-year-olds have been vaccinated. That is far too little.
Gimbel indicates that this delay is due to the idea of justice in the Netherlands. We don’t want to miss anyone wrongly. While this is understandable, many people are now missing out on their vaccine or getting it too late.
Too careful with the vaccination process
Bart Huber, chairman of 350 general practitioners in Noord-Holland-Noord, thinks that the process is being done too carefully. Safety is important, but now people have to wait 15 minutes after vaccination in case of an allergic reaction. He prefers that the doctors call 911 if that happens because the chance of such a reaction is 1 in 83,000.That waiting and the fact that only a maximum of 30 people are allowed in such a room causes an enormous delay. British GPs have abolished that waiting period, meaning that 30 million adults have already been vaccinated. Nevertheless, the experts of the vaccination working group see no reason to adjust Dutch policy. They believe that a missed allergic reaction can have many disadvantages on people’s willingness to receive a vaccine.
The current state of affairs regarding the vaccination process
Currently, fewer than 300,000 shots are given per week. If the government wants to have two-thirds of the country vaccinated by July, this number must increase to more than 1 million vaccinations a week – provided there is no low turnout.
However, almost all general practitioners have now had a shot and most Covid-19 healthcare employees have too. It is now the turn of most people over 75 and nursing home workers, and the next groups are people with Down syndrome, people who are morbidly obese, and 63- and 64-year-olds.