“In large cities such as Rotterdam and Amsterdam, 40 percent of the positively tested people are infected with this new variant,” says Gommers, just before he goes on holiday after an exciting year. “But it is important that we know and are on top of it. For us as the OMT it is also good to know that it is not over. We have to learn to live with the virus. That is why it is important to stick to the basic measures. If you have complaints, get yourself tested. We want to eradicate the virus with the GGD, but there will be outbreaks in certain neighborhoods. That is not excluded.”
Vaccinate
According to Gommers, this is mainly due to the fact that part of the population is not vaccinated. “We are now in the final sprint when it comes to vaccination. We hope that in this way we can conquer the virus, but if 25 percent of adults do not get vaccinated – that is about 3 million people – then it is that too much. Then you can’t prevent outbreaks from happening.”
According to expectations, the delta variant will displace all other variants. Meanwhile, the group that gets sick and where the virus can survive shrinks. “But in addition, the elderly in particular will be more vulnerable again, because the antibodies in the body slowly decrease,” explains Gommers. “They may need a third shot.”
Third shot
That will probably also apply to people who have been shot with the AstraZeneca vaccine. “A study in England shows that AstraZeneca offers slightly less protection against the delta variant. If that causes problems in practice, then those people may also receive a third shot.”
Lockdown
But according to Gommers, we don’t have to fear another lockdown. “We are good at taking measures, but we find relaxation scary. But if you hold on to it for too long, the public will no longer have confidence in it. So it is important that we now dare to scale down quickly. This is possible from now too. Despite the advancing delta variant, we don’t have to worry about a strict lockdown again.”
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