Text and photo: Robert Jansema
At general practice De Steenpoort in Genemuiden, not only people came to get a vaccine on Tuesday afternoon. Striking there was a man with a sign that read ‘Covid Vaccination is Experimentation’. It was Hasselter Klaas Meesters. With his one-man campaign he wants to offer people more information about vaccination. “Information that they do not receive from the media, the national government or the GGD,” he says steadfastly.
Many visitors look at Meesters and his plate with some suspicion. “What do people think of me? I don’t care about that all my life. A woman who passed by called me an idiot, but I don’t care,” says de Hasselter.
Meesters is not there to persuade people not to take a vaccine. He also does not personally address the people who come to get a shot. “I brought a board with information that the central government does not provide. If people don’t get all the information about vaccinations, they can’t make a fair choice,” he explains.
In his own words, Meesters does have information that “the mainstream media” does not publish. “I look up the disadvantages of vaccination myself on the internet and print it out for the plates. It’s my own initiative, I didn’t announce it at De Steenpoort either. For me it is the first time that I do this,” says Klaas, who is connected with like-minded people via Facebook.
“Let it be clear that I am not an anti-vaxxer. I just think that the national government is withholding too much information and that there is unhealthy pressure on the population to get the shot,” concludes Meesters. Yet it does not seem that people who come for a vaccine read the information from the Hasselter extensively. A few take a brief look at the board out of curiosity.
At 3.15 pm Klaas is finished. “On to Staphorst, there the vaccination starts at 4 pm.”
Published by Bas Jansen
–
