Outgoing Minister of Public Health De Jonge expects the corona vaccine from Leiden pharmaceutical company Janssen to be available in the Netherlands in April. Larger numbers of the vaccine will then be delivered from May. He cannot yet state precise numbers.
The Netherlands expects a total of 3 million doses of the Janssen vaccine in the second quarter. People only need to get one shot, not two as with other vaccines. The Janssen vaccine will probably be the fourth vaccine approved for use in the European Union on Thursday.
Until now, it was unclear when the Janssen vaccine was delivered. The pharmaceutical company only provides certainty about the deliveries thirty days in advance. Janssen does not want to confirm the news about deliveries in April or May to the NOS for the time being.
Pitch weekends
The Ministry of Health has agreed with the GGD, general practitioners and hospitals that it will be scaled up to be able to take 2.5 million injections per week from May. Whether those numbers are actually achieved depends on the deliveries. Sufficient personnel and logistics are not the problem here, emphasizes a spokesperson for the ministry.
Of the 2.5 million injections per week, 1.5 million will be placed at the GGD. There will be a total of 140 injection locations for this. The GPs will perform a maximum of 250,000 injections per week. The other 750,000 injections per week are taken during special ‘injection weekends’.
The injection weekends are a new plan to make large numbers of vaccinations possible in one go. From the beginning of May they should take place per target group and by invitation. This still depends on sufficient supplies.
The Ministry and RIVM are still in talks with the GGD, general practitioners and hospitals regarding the implementation of the ‘injection events’. They have to take place at large event locations where thousands of people can keep 1.5 meters away and there is enough space to observe people who have had an injection for 15 minutes.
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