From open letter is online on the hospital’s website, which also includes a photo of the patient’s lungs. The patient had been offered a shot of AstraZeneca by the GP, but refused it because he only wanted a vaccination from Pfizer. Now the man is on a respirator.
‘Despair in his eyes’
“We heard the enormous regret in his voice and saw the despair in his eyes. The virus had struck him and this may not have been necessary. With his approval we share his lung scan here. You don’t have to be a lung specialist to recognize the devastation. “
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In the open letter, the doctors focus on De Jonge: “Will you please stop delaying and cause unrest, insinuating that you offer safety by having everything sorted out carefully first? The figures showing the benefits of mass vaccination are overwhelming. They really don’t lie. “
‘Prick instead of debate’
The hospital says it is looking with astonishment at the political decision to temporarily halt vaccination with AstraZeneca and Janssen. “The risk of serious damage from Covid-19 is ten times higher for 40-year-olds, and 70 times for 60-year-olds, than the risk of serious damage from thrombosis from the vaccine.”
“AstraZeneca, Janssen or any other vaccine: we want to prick instead of endlessly debating whether the advice of the Health Council is valid or not,” the doctors write in the letter.
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They are considering offering a few hundred AstraZeneca vaccines to their own employees and doctors next Monday, even if they are under 60 years old.
Vaccination on a voluntary basis
This would run counter to the Health Ministry’s decision to only give the AstraZeneca shot to people aged 60 to 64, due to a rare side effect of thrombosis.
Zuyderland advocates voluntary vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
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A majority of the House of Representatives wants 60-year-olds to be able to choose to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine after all over-60s have had the shot later this year. This became clear yesterday during a debate about vaccination.
Even if there is another vaccine that, according to the government’s strategy, is no longer used, but that is available in stock, people should be able to choose it themselves, says the House.
Huge puzzle
During the debate, outgoing minister Hugo de Jonge said he was willing to look at the proposal. But it did not make him very enthusiastic. According to him, it is ‘a huge puzzle’ in the implementation.
In addition, he believes other vaccines are a better alternative for people under the age of 60. Pfizer and Moderna are more likely to get the second shot than AstraZeneca, so there is more complete protection.
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