And so the old network of key figures and familiar faces is deployed to avoid a booster gap. General practitioner Bunyamin Meral is one of those familiar faces. From the start of the vaccination campaign, he has been committed to fine-meshed vaccination in his neighborhood in Rotterdam-West. “A lot of people live in vulnerable neighborhoods who are uneducated, have to work hard all their lives and have relatively many health problems. So they often come to the GP with questions and then you already have a good relationship with them. Patients trust you and listen to you .” says Meral.
“We still get a lot of questions about the booster, why this shot is needed again. And what exactly is in it. We also noticed that many people did not understand the word booster. They thought it was something completely different from the first Or another brand or something,” says Meral.
Geen smartphone of DigiD
According to Meral, it is not only a matter of trust, but also accessibility. “Many people in these neighborhoods do not have a smartphone or DigiD. Or they do not know how to make an appointment and have no one to guide them. That was a problem for many people during the first two injections and that is also the case with the booster. a problem.”
Meral also noticed that many people want to but find it difficult to find their way when he and his colleagues started the booster campaign in the district: “We soon saw that our people did not go to those large injection locations. we decided to set up a booster campaign in our neighbourhoods, independent of the GGD. For four days we tested without an appointment and often about 800 people came per day. All people who wanted to themselves.”
When the GGD was forced to put the fine-mesh vaccination on the back burner because of the booster campaign, Meral and his colleagues continued. They provided information at markets, community centers and mosques. He is happy that the GGD is now back: “Fine-mesh vaccination is really very important. 99 percent of people will get an injection after an interview, but they really need that support.”
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