Nevertheless accelerated vaccination for hospital staff | Inland

It concerns 35,000 healthcare workers under the age of 60 who have direct contact with corona patients. From next week, they can be injected with Pfizer, or with the Janssen vaccine if it turns out to be safe. They all had an injection within three weeks, a spokesperson for the ministry said. At the beginning of this year, 40,000 vaccines were already sent to healthcare providers.

The decision comes after consultation between outgoing care ministers Hugo de Jonge and Tamara van Ark with Ernst Kuipers (National Network Acute Care) and Ad Melkert (Dutch Association for Hospitals). Because the pressure on hospital care is still very high, hospitals cannot afford (further) dropout due to illness of staff.

Last Friday, 35,000 Janssen vaccinations were reserved for accelerated vaccination in healthcare, but the use of that vaccine will be suspended as long as research into side effects is still ongoing. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will report on Tuesday with conclusions in the research into the Janssen vaccine. After that, De Jonge makes a decision whether it can be used again in the Netherlands.

Even before the Janssen vaccine would go to healthcare, the healthcare providers would get a shot with AstraZeneca. But because of the risk of a dangerous combination of thrombosis and platelet deficiency, that vaccine is no longer used in people under the age of 60. People over 60 in healthcare can still get vaccinated with AstraZeneca.

Healthcare providers happy

Trade union NU’91, an organization for healthcare professionals, says it is very happy that people who work in corona care are still getting a vaccination more quickly. “It is a very nice step,” said trade unionist Michel van Erp of NU’91. The professional association for nurses V&VN is also very happy with it. According to a spokesperson, a solution still needs to be found for employees in the GGZ.

More and more people must be added who can provide acute Covid care, also because many people drop out. ” According to Van Erp, it was a setback that the Janssen vaccine and the AstraZeneca vaccine were not vaccinated, because they were not considered safe enough.

“The pressure from hospitals is extremely high. People don’t know what to do anymore. In that sense, it makes sense to listen to it now, because that cannot be taken for granted, ”says Van Erp. The spokesperson for the V&VN agrees: “We see everywhere that work and work pressure are still increasing, even in recent weeks. The only solution is to prick and prevent people from falling out. It is good that this is happening decisively now. ”

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