Minister De Jonge (Public Health) said yesterday that the caretaker cabinet is is considering additional corona measures. “It’s a difficult dilemma,” he said. There are all kinds of options on the table, but the minister does not rule out the possibility of special measures for people who have not been vaccinated.
There will be a press conference next Tuesday, a majority of the House of Representatives must agree to the measures.
‘Unacceptable’
If it is up to PVV leader Geert Wilders, additional measures are now not acceptable. “I don’t think it’s fair and very unfair for unvaccinated people to be the loser.”
There are currently 200 people on the IC. “Every person is one too many, but it is unbelievable that we cannot handle this. We are a rich country, but De Jonge has failed to invest in healthcare. He is now sowing panic.”
Forum, Groep Van Haga and SGP are also strongly against measures for the group of unvaccinated people. That group is about 15 percent of the population.
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Cards to the chest
VVD party leader Sophie Hermans does not want to prejudge the matter yet and first wait for the OMT advice. But according to an insider, support for measures against unvaccinated people is growing within the VVD. “It cannot be that 85 percent of people have to suffer from the 15 percent unvaccinated,” said one person involved.
GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver also does not want to anticipate possible measures. At the time, his party was against the introduction of the corona ticket. “I am not going to speculate now. I first want to see plans from the cabinet. I think it is important that this is done in peace. What is necessary is necessary.”
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D66 and PvdA mainly urge that the current measures, especially the corona ticket, are better enforced. D66 MP Jan Paternotte believes that possible new measures should lead to ‘keeping the freedom that we just got back’. He also insists on enforcement of the corona passes in particular. “In other countries where it is more strictly controlled, it works and prevents a lot of infections.”
Green checkmark
Paternotte was already open to the idea that people in risky places only get a green tick after a vaccination or recovery. A test is then not sufficient. But only as a last resort, he thinks, if it’s the only way to prevent places from having to close again. “But D66 would prefer places to be open to everyone as much as possible,” he says.
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face masks
MP Attje Kuiken of the PvdA wants tested people to be able to continue to have access. She is rather thinking of measures for everyone, such as having to wear mouth caps again in certain places and working from home more.
According to her, the starting point for new interventions should be ‘that care remains intact for everyone.’
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Frits Wester: ‘It is all extremely sensitive’
According to Frits Wester, this discussion is politically extremely sensitive. “On the one hand, you have to impose restrictions on people who have been vaccinated to protect the unvaccinated. That also causes a lot of economic damage. But if you take specific measures that only apply to unvaccinated people, a sharp dichotomy arises. between both groups.
In the House of Representatives, a number of parties are strongly against, or at least have serious doubts. This is the dilemma that the government is also grappling with. We are now waiting for the advice of the OMT and the mayors. After that, the cabinet has to make decisions quickly. Whatever the outcome, it is clear that those measures will be firm again.”
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