Tomorrow, Health Minister Hugo de Jonge will announce in a letter to parliament that people who would have received the AstraZeneca vaccine but refused it will soon be called up again. He confirms that news hour. This time they are pricked by the GGD, which means that they get Pfizer, Moderna or Janssen.
Some of the 60 to 64-year-olds, who could receive AstraZeneca through their GP, did not want that specific drug. They were not given an alternative; the government kept saying that it’s a matter of stinging the pot.
Many Astra refusers hope that they will soon be able to choose for themselves. More than 16,000 people have a petition signed and addressed to the Minister. The goal: to give people over 60 the freedom to opt for vaccination with Pfizer or Moderna. Those vaccines are what more effective than AstraZeneca and Janssen, although they also work very well against severe corona.
‘Don’t be an anti-vaxer’
One of the signatories is Annemarie Bel. She thanked AstraZeneca. “I just had nightmares about it. We are not antivaxers, we would like a different vaccine. If a drug only protects 60 percent, you can long covid to get. With my asthmatic bronchitis, I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
There is also still mistrust of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to the injection stops and the news of serious (but very rare) side effects. “I am 100 percent for vaccination, I am convinced that that is the only way out of this pandemic,” says signatory René Vlietstra. “But I don’t have a thrombosis or platelet disturbance now, so I don’t plan to introduce anything into my body that will increase the chance of getting it.”
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Many patients want a different vaccine. Some are afraid they will drop dead.
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The exact number of Astra refusers is unknown, partly because many general practitioners and healthcare institutions are lagging behind in passing on the vaccinations. according to estimates from RIVM the vast majority of 60 to 64-year-olds had a first shot, but GPs who news hour says that a good part has refused the jab.
“70 percent of the people we invited did not want him,” says Nanja Danhof, general practitioner in the Kanaleneiland district of Utrecht. “A large part of them want a different vaccine. They are afraid of side effects, afraid of thrombosis, afraid that they will drop dead.”
The majority of Danhof’s patients have a migration background, a group where there are relatively many AstraZeneca refusers. “I definitely think their background has something to do with it. The information is different. They don’t see the normal television programs. If I have convinced them, there are still relatives or neighbors who say ‘don’t do it, it’s too dangerous ‘.”
Distrust due to puncture breaks
Since an advice from the Health Council at the beginning of April, people under 60 . have been no more AstraZeneca. Side effects are mainly found in young people. But a survey subsequently showed that four in ten people over the age of 60 who still had to be vaccinated, did not want an Astra shot anymore.
Professor of risk communication and public health Danielle Timmermans understands these people. The government has communicated with them too late and insufficiently about the benefits and risks of vaccines, she believes. “They should have mentioned in November that if vaccines are rolled out on a large scale, experts are not surprised by side effects. Every medical intervention has risks.”
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Pressing the pause button twice is a signal that there is a danger. Then you can hardly go back.
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When the minister paused the injection of AstraZeneca twice, it created a lot of mistrust. According to Timmermans, the government did not take those concerns seriously enough. “Pressing the pause button twice is a signal that something is wrong, is a danger. Once that signal is given, it is difficult for people to go back.”
Danhof: “If we could have pricked everyone who qualified without stops, we could have acted decisively.” The GP would now like to offer other vaccines. “Now we just have to offer the vaccines that are out there. I don’t care which vaccine, as long as a vaccine goes in.”
It will probably not be a free choice for the Astra refusers. Minister De Jonge said earlier that he was against the “choice model”. “Then it really becomes a mess in the implementation.”
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