Anyone who has already been infected with the coronavirus will only receive one shot in the Netherlands with an mRNA vaccine, such as that of Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna. Virologist Steven Van Gucht of Sciensano confirms the science behind it, but understands that our task force does not follow vaccination.
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Dutch people who have had a corona infection less than six months before their first shot receive one shot of mRNA vaccine instead of two. Soon, Dutch people who contracted corona more than six months ago will no longer have to come back for a repeat shot. This is the advice of the Dutch Outbreak Management Team (OMT).
Is one shot enough after infection?
The advisory body – the Dutch counterpart of our Gems – relies on various scientific studies. These make it clear that a corona infection leads to ‘broad stimulation’ of the immune system.
‘If people have been infected and they receive their first injection, we see an enormous boost in antibodies, studies generally indicate that,’ confirms virologist Steven Van Gucht, affiliated with Sciensano. ‘You really get a top immunity. So be sure to get vaccinated if you’ve been through an infection.’
If you already have top immunity, then you no longer need a second shot? ‘You add less with a second injection, you can see that in those studies,’ says the virologist.
Can the Belgian vaccination campaign save time in this way?
By omitting that second shot in people who have been infected before, you can speed up the vaccination campaign enormously, right? That would be welcome, after the delay caused by the age restriction on the Janssen vaccine.
• 11 July, the day that not every Flemish person received a first injection
Van Gucht is cautious: ‘In the meantime, 1 million infections have been detected in our country. The number of saved doses can therefore have an impact on the speed of the vaccination campaign. But the vaccination task force has not held back that option. The science behind the Dutch strategy is correct, but the system is complex’, concludes Van Gucht.
How much profit can we make with the Dutch strategy?
‘Many of the people who have contracted an infection and have tested positive have already had their vaccination, including their second shot. A quarter of the adult population is now fully vaccinated. The virus showed itself, certainly at the beginning of the pandemic, more clearly among the elderly, who came first,” explains Gudrun Briat of the Belgian vaccination task force.
The gain in vaccine doses is therefore certainly not close to the 1 million confirmed infections in our country. “The consequences of the operational impact of such a strategy do not outweigh the limited profits,” she says.
What prevents Belgium from following the Dutch strategy?
Briat points out that this strategy requires an enormous logistical effort. ‘You have to check whether people have been infected. Are there enough antibodies in the blood? You may win a number of doses, but on the other hand you have to unroll a gigantic blood analysis strategy.’
This is necessary because there are many uncertainties surrounding the corona tests performed. ‘At the beginning of the crisis, very little could be tested. If you have symptoms, you stayed at home, without a test. That cannot be compared with the last three months, in which more tests have been carried out’, says Briat.
• With just one shot, you have to pay even more attention
‘There is little harm in taking an extra dose. The risk is much greater that you give false positives a dose too little. They then think they are protected, while they are just vulnerable’, adds Briat. According to the latest scientific information, the first shot of the Pfizer vaccine protects much less well against the Indian and South African variants of the virus.
Briat also does not know whether the GDPR legislation can be reconciled with collecting the necessary results in order to be able to send the right invitation.
So why does the Netherlands do it?
For the Netherlands, the need for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines may weigh more heavily on that choice. The country announced yesterday that it will soon stop with the Janssen vaccine. AstraZeneca is also only used in people over sixty. So every saved dose of Pfizer and Moderna counts.
• Is it safe to continue injecting with AstraZeneca?
‘The Netherlands is lagging behind Belgium in the vaccination campaign’, says Briat. ‘We do have delivery problems, for example Johnson & Johnson delivers less than expected. We are not definitively saying no to the Dutch system, but it is not an issue at the moment.’
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