For the first time since the start of the vaccination campaign, RIVM gave detailed information today vaccination figures per municipality free. With a vaccination rate of 93 percent, the municipality of Schiermonnikoog takes the cake, while the municipality of Urk is at the bottom of the list with 23 percent. So big differences, why is that?
Compared to the other eleven provinces, the vaccination rate in the whole of Flevoland is still slightly behind, the GGD Flevoland notes. The health service in the province cannot say exactly what that has to do with. It is true that with the more ‘established’ vaccinations, such as the shots that are included in the National Vaccination Programme, Flevoland always lags behind the other provinces.
The GGD thinks that the covid vaccination program follows that pattern.
“Flevoland is a province that is difficult to compare,” says a spokesperson for the GGD there. “It is a bit of a separate region. You have completely new cities, but also agricultural areas and a former island.” The province also has a relatively young population, while older groups are more likely to be vaccinated.
Outlier Urk
Within Flevoland, the municipality of Urk is an outlier: less than a quarter of the inhabitants there are currently infected with the corona virus. In the municipalities of Lelystad and Almere, with a vaccination coverage of 64 percent, more residents have been vaccinated.
The GGD Flevoland does not think that religious considerations have been decisive for the low vaccination coverage. “That is really too easy. Urk has been an independent area for a long time,” explains the spokesperson for the health service. “The government is viewed with a certain distance and skepticism.”
That distrust of authorities may well have translated into vaccinations. Incidentally, the vaccination rate for the shots from the National Vaccination Program is much higher.
There have already been protests against the corona measures in Urk. During a protest against the curfew in January, about a hundred cars drove through the harbor honking their horns, and the test street of the GGD was also set on fire.
This can also be seen in this video:
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