The RIVM will communicate more clearly after vaccination when you are fully protected against corona. In the first weeks after the vaccinations, people are not yet optimally protected against the virus, and that was not clearly communicated in the letters and leaflets that were given to vaccinees. The new folder is now at the printer, the RIVM informs the NOS.
Several experts are happy with this decision, as they believe that RIVM’s communication about this should be improved. “It is very important that people realize that it takes at least two weeks for the protection to start working. That really needs to be explained more to the people,” says immunologist Marjolein van Egmond.
The first shot of a vaccine from BioNTech / Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca turns on the immune system. You will notice this after two weeks, but it takes one to two weeks after the second injection before maximum protection is achieved. With the Janssen vaccine – which has not yet been approved and has only one injection – maximum protection is reached after 28 days. This means that you are not only optimally protected against corona between the injections, but also in the weeks after.
“This is a piece of cake for people in my field, but not for the rest of the Netherlands,” says Van Egmond. “I understand a bit that grandparents, for example, want to hug their grandchildren again after all this time. But don’t think that you are protected immediately after that injection. That is why it is so important that people know when that protection is optimal.”
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