Things are much more relaxed than during the height of the pandemic. Yet getting the corona shot is a serious matter for many elderly people, as is clear in Nijeveen.
Roelof Zelhorst (84) experienced firsthand that getting vaccinated is not without risks. A few weeks ago he got on his bike after getting the flu shot in his hometown of Meppel and suddenly it was scary. A motorist took the bend too short in the parking lot and there Zelhorst lay on the road surface. He pulls up his sleeve to show the not yet fully healed wound. “It will be fine again,” says Zelhorst.
It was scary, but the experience did not stop him from also coming to get the corona vaccine: “If they call you, you go.” And so this Friday he is sitting in the canteen of the De Schalle village hall in Nijeveen, waiting for the control period after the injection to be over. He belongs to the small percentage of Dutch people who have never tested positive for the virus. “I would like to keep it that way, because I am a male who is sensitive to shortness of breath.”
Until New Year’s Eve
The pandemic may be over and the status of the virus scaled down; It can still make you seriously ill for a long time. And so many Groningen and Drenthe residents make an appointment once they have received the invitation letter. This concerns everyone aged 60 and over and people in poorer health.
Halfway through the vaccination campaign (which runs until December 22), the number in Drenthe has been around 55,000 vaccinations and in Groningen it is already approaching 70,000. In Groningen they will continue with the injections for another week, until New Year’s Eve.
Both provinces have three large injection locations that are open every weekday and then there are smaller ones in other places that are open one day a week. The Schalle in Nijeveen is one of them. Things are going well again this Friday, with (almost only) elderly people.
Nobody difficult
Day coordinator Jelmer Mast of GGD Drenthe expects around 750 people from miles around this day, as far as South Friesland and the head of Overijssel. “Not that it will be hectic,” says Mast. “It’s really pleasant here all day long. Very different from during the pandemic. Everyone now really knows how it works. No one has a problem with the fact that you sometimes have to stand in line for a few minutes.”
Marry (69) and Geert Lier (71) from Staphorst have also had their shots again. “Once you have started, you have to continue,” says Marry about the vaccinations. As far as she knows, she has never had corona. “That’s a good thing, because as a severe COPD sufferer I probably wouldn’t survive that. I am very happy that I have a little extra protection again.”
2023-11-17 18:32:00
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