Menno de Jong, virologist at Amsterdam UMC and member of the Outbreak Management Team, is concerned about the increase in the number of corona infections. “We have to take into account that the infections still seep through to the vulnerable population.”
He says that at the Amsterdam channel AT5.
Although this vulnerable population has been vaccinated, the vaccines offer less protection against the current delta variant, according to De Jong. “Plus, the most vulnerable population has been vaccinated early in the year, which means that protection is already starting to expire.”
Nobody expected this
De Jong is shocked by the current increase in the number of infections. “I don’t think anyone expected this, such a big increase two weeks after the easing. This is above all expectations in the models as well. That also means that the models no longer provide the compass.”
The virologist fears that the increase may again lead to more hospital admissions and seriously ill patients. “Now that we see these numbers, we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Long-term Covid risk in young people
Although young people have almost no chance of getting a serious infection, De Jong does point to the risk of long-term Covid. “That is a relevant risk. I think a lot of people know someone who sits at home for months, can no longer work, people are too tired. If that becomes a large population among young people who can no longer study or work, that will also have a significant impact.”
Partygoers should always be tested
The OMT member also advocates that in the future the clubbing public should always be tested in advance, instead of only showing a vaccination or recovery certificate. “That is a lot safer, because we know that a vaccination does not protect 100 percent against an infection of the delta variant.”
Dancing with Janssen: unfortunate
According to De Jong, the relaxations that were recently introduced were obvious given the numbers that were there at the time. He called the so-called ‘dancing with Janssen campaign’, in which young people could go out immediately after getting a jab, but ‘a bit unfortunate’. “The vaccine doesn’t work right away. That has now been reversed, but it will not have helped.”
Run
The virologist is hopeful that the current measures will have an effect and that the exponential growth in the number of corona infections can be stopped quickly. “We are now dealing with a race between vaccination and the delta variant. At the moment, the delta variant is clearly winning. But next month more will be vaccinated, more people will receive their second vaccine. On August 13, you are already in a different situation, in which the vaccination party may be winning.”
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