Is moderately vaccinated Urk now better protected than the rest of the country?

How is it possible that there is no outbreak of the coronavirus in Urk, while the virus does flare up again in other municipalities with a low vaccination rate?

Perhaps, it sounds in the village, Urk has built up a great natural immunity. In the past year and a half, two large corona waves have passed through the village. Many Urkers became ill and 55 of them ended up in hospital – on the high side for a town with about 21,000 inhabitants. And Urk also has a relatively young population, so you would expect fewer hospital admissions.

The fact that no corona patients are now being admitted – a Urk with Covid-19 last ended up in hospital two months ago – is in any case not due to the high vaccination rate: only thirty percent of the adult population is fully vaccinated against the corona virus. . But a previous infection also provides protection, according to some studies even more than after vaccinations. Perhaps Urk is now as well, or even better, protected than the rest of the country.

It is a frequently heard statement on Urk. At least, among the residents who want to talk, because many Urkers are no longer very talkative. Apart from some wandering tourists, it is quiet on the street during the day. On scooters, young people with blue hairnets in uniforms from one of the fishmongers ride through the narrow streets of the old village. In a brown cafe on the harbor nobody wants to talk about the corona virus. “We have decided together not to say anything more,” it sounds friendly but determined. “The media write what they want anyway.”

‘Write a positive story’

Urk received pretty bad publicity during the corona crisis. In the midst of the lockdown, the churches open and received large groups of believers. . In riots following the introduction of the curfew in January, a test street of the GGD in flames on – the burn mark in the parking lot near the harbor can still be seen. Last month came a picture of Urk youths in Nazi uniforms in the news.

“First write a positive story and then come back,” it sounds now. The rigid, anti-authoritarian mentality on the former island, where hard work, the church and a sense of community are central, has already been sufficiently explained.

The municipality of Urk also seems to have finished talking about the corona virus. Mayor Cees van den Bos (SGP) has no time for an interview and has questions answered by e-mail. The same applies to GGD Flevoland.

Yet there is plenty to talk about, because Urk is an exception in the Netherlands. In the sea of ​​other municipalities, the vaccination rate at Urk – 30 percent – is a different data point. The municipality of Staphorst, one place above Urk in the ranking, has a vaccination rate of 54 percent. Above this is the municipality of Neder-Betuwe: 58 percent. In contrast to Urk, the number of infections in these municipalities has recently risen sharply and there are again hospital admissions. The number of infections in Urk is also increasing, but that is not out of tune with the rest of the Netherlands. According to a spokesperson, the GGD does not have a “conclusive explanation” for the low number of hospital admissions in Urk.

Also read: this Flemish writer lived in Urk for half a year: ‘A high price has been paid for that plaice on your plate’

Two waves

“At the moment, life is actually going back to normal in Urk, just like in many other cities,” says Rev. Alwin Uitslag of the Christian Reformed Eben-Haëzer Church in Urk, one of the 21 churches in the village. “I think the number of people who are very ill is very low. At the start of the entire corona event, many people everywhere in society were sick. That was the case again at the end of November, beginning of December.” Mayor Van den Bos was unable to work for three months after a corona infection and pneumonia. General practitioner Peter Hildering, a celebrity in Urk, died of corona in January. “Dozens of people I knew from my own area were sick and lying flat,” says the pastor. “I think a lot of immunity was built up then.”

Meindert Bakker, leader of the ChristenUnie, the largest party in Urk, also saw the effect of the two corona waves in the village. “It is a close-knit social community. We went through a period when Urk was at the top of the infection lists in the Netherlands, then things went very fast.” Bakker is concerned about the low vaccination coverage and has a “hard head” that it will increase a lot.

Information folder home to home

It is not surprising that Urk has a low vaccination rate. Urk also deviates with other vaccinations. Less than 60 percent of Urk toddlers were vaccinated against polio, rubella and diseases such as mumps. Nationally, that percentage is above 91 percent. Faith plays a major role in this, says Reverend Uitslag. “That’s the biggest point: the fact that people believe in a God in heaven who guides and protects their lives, including from illness.” But that is only part of the explanation, Bakker thinks. “Among the youth there is also the feeling: we have been punished for such a long period, not going to school, not going out. There is also a bit of rebellion behind it.”

The municipality and GGD did try to increase the vaccination rate: a letter and information folder were distributed home this summer in collaboration with local general practitioners. There was a social media campaign aimed at young people. The vaccination rate among people over 50 rose slightly thereafter, but it still lags far behind the rest of the Netherlands. According to the municipality, “no action is being taken” to further increase the vaccination rate.

Detecting fires quickly, before things get out of hand, is also difficult at Urk: the willingness to test is also low. With longer and more flexible opening hours of the test street in the village, the GGD tried to entice the Urkers to have themselves tested, but too few people made use of this option. The test street was closed because of “an imbalance between the efforts of the GGD and the number of tests taken,” says a spokesperson for the GGD. Urkers can now go to nearby Emmeloord. Test boxes, used nationally to convince doubters by bringing the vaccinations to them, were also not used in the municipality. “We did not see the added value in that.”

Councilor Bakker is not reassured. Relying on natural immunity is a gamble, because whether it is really as high as the Urks think has not yet been medically established. He calls the low vaccination coverage “a major problem”. And the fact that the infection figures are lagging “doesn’t help to convince people either” to take a shot. “I hope it continues to go well this winter.”

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