According to the GGD, there are approximately 11,000 Dutch people who had an (allergic) reaction after the first corona vaccination. Often these people canceled their second appointment themselves, after which they were entered in the system with the comment ‘care program not completed due to medical reason’.
All these people have now received a call from the GGD to report to the general practitioner or allergist. The fact that there is more time between vaccinations than usual does not affect getting a QR code.
“The immunity built up with the first injection has not disappeared, so you can count on it that you are well protected again after the second injection, even if there was a bit more time in between,” says Van Maaren.
Advices adjusted
Agnes Kant of side effects center Lareb also sees that the policy has shifted. “It is good to hear that a second injection is therefore possible. We have therefore adjusted the advice on our website.”
Out of 23 million vaccines brewed, Lareb received 292 reports of an allergic reaction and 79 reports of anaphylactic shock. Kant is pleased with the good results of the new working method, but emphasizes that something was really going on with these people. “Even though it may not have been an officially demonstrable allergic reaction, they did have a severe, sometimes anaphylactic reaction to that first shot.”
Allergist Van Maaren thinks that probably none of these 79 reports have been referred by their GP yet. “Maybe that’s why we haven’t seen those very serious reactions yet.” But for this group it is of great importance to investigate whether they are actually allergic to the excipients in the vaccine. “Those substances are in up to 30 percent of all medicines available in the Netherlands. So you want to be sure to prevent serious reactions in the future.”
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