About 30,000 hospital employees are given priority in the national vaccination campaign against the corona virus. These are nurses and doctors who work in intensive care, emergency care or corona, but also, for example, ambulance personnel.
1. What made the cabinet decide to do this?
Work was already being done on an adjustment to the vaccination plan, according to those involved. For example, the Health Council already advised on December 24 that the Pfizer vaccine can also be used for healthcare personnel. Hospital administrator Ernst Kuipers and national IC chairman Diederik Gommers called on the cabinet on Wednesday in Nieuwsuur to start vaccinating hospital staff from acute care as soon as possible. Because of that call, the pressure was increasing and De Jonge announced the turnaround today.
2. Can vaccination start on Monday?
It’s not that simple. Many things still need to be arranged, such as the administration, registrations and the precise distribution of the vaccines. The official start date for the vaccination surgery was Friday, January 8. Most likely, the first injections will also be taken for acute care personnel on that date.
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3. How does the House of Representatives respond?
Both government parties and the opposition are increasingly irritating about the corona policy and about Minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Health).
A motion of no confidence against De Jonge in the corona debate next Tuesday is not ruled out. The question is: would another minister speed up the process? The entire corona crisis has shown that Dutch healthcare is organized very efficiently and regionally, which causes problems in a pandemic.
4. Is it expected that De Jonge will really get into trouble?
That mainly depends on how he acts during the debate. One will be critical of his varying explanations about the vaccine strategy. Then he blames neighboring countries for symbolism, then he calls the Netherlands a ‘grouch country’. There is also a sigh about all those media appearances by De Jonge during the Christmas holidays.
De Jonge will have to admit his mistakes, you hear, and that is precisely not the strongest point of this minister.
Behind the scenes at government parties, people are thinking: suppose De Jonge has to resign, what then? A possible departure of De Jonge will not lead to a cabinet crisis, it can be heard. Just because it is being considered does not mean that it will happen.
It is a bad omen, especially for De Jonge, and that means that he can expect a solid debate on Tuesday.
5. It’s not a good start for the new year …
Absolutely not. The corona crisis is becoming increasingly dire and the Minister of Health is also under fire. It is one of the topics that will be discussed tomorrow in the Catshuis. It is about the corona crisis, but later in the afternoon it is also about the benefits affair.
The expectations are not that big conclusions will be drawn tomorrow, but it is anything but a quiet start to the new year for Rutte III.
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