Jan Paternotte (D66) argues for ‘prick boxes’ throughout the country

We have to go into the autumn with as many vaccinated people as possible and ‘pocket boxes’, spread throughout the country, should help with that. This is the proposal made by D66 MP Jan Paternotte. “The OMT has said that a new wave may come in the winter. I hope that we will not get the one and a half meters and the mouth caps back in the winter due to new outbreaks, and the solution is to prick as much as possible,” he says in Good morning Netherlands on NPO 1.

“I think we can do that in the summer by setting up booths in as many places as possible where all kinds of people pass by where you can walk in and get a vaccine right away, without an appointment,” says Paternotte. “Plans are now being made for that.”

General practitioner Güven Yildiz, who works in the Schilderswijk in The Hague, is very enthusiastic about this idea. Because she grew up in the Schilderswijk herself, she knows her patients through and through. “People have been very anxious about the safety of the vaccine and the long-term side effects. Family members and young people often play an important role in this. People doubt,” she says. “The moment people are approached on the street by a social worker who offers them the opportunity to ask questions and immediately receive a vaccine, that is fantastic.”

Vaccination strategy under way

The government’s vaccination strategy is once again being overhauled. From now on, only Pfizer and Moderna will be used. The House of Representatives is today debating the corona measures and therefore the injection policy and the consequences of this decision.

“It’s a shame, because it’s just a very effective vaccine,” says Paternotte. “It offers 100 percent protection against hospitalization. Moreover, you only need one injection, so that is also very useful for many people. We will continue to use it, but it will no longer be included in the program.”

He therefore wants the Janssen vaccine to be made freely available to everyone. “What I think needs to happen is that people who want to can get the Janssen vaccine,” he says. “So that there is freedom of choice. That everyone is actively offered Pfizer and Moderna, but that Janssen becomes freely available to everyone.”

Double work

According to Paternotte, a lot of “duplicate work” is done in the Netherlands when it comes to checking vaccines. “I think it is wrong that there is a European opinion in the first instance, saying that it is a good vaccine,” he explains. “They allow it, and countries like Germany usually say: great, then we’ll take the shot. And the Netherlands will then ask for additional advice.”

This currently also applies to children from the age of twelve who are in the flu shot group, so those who suffer from asthma or a muscle disease, for example, are waiting for a vaccine, says Paternotte. “They would love to be vaccinated as soon as possible. That is now also possible in Europe. Germany, France and Italy all do that. But the Netherlands is waiting for advice.”

ALSO READ: Virologist Osterhaus expresses concern about low vaccination willingness among young people

By: Marinka Wagemans

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