According to immunologist Willem van Eden of Utrecht University, next fall is the first logical moment for a new round of vaccinations against the corona virus. Because the virus is still circulating quite a bit, a new vaccination at an earlier time does not seem so sensible, he says.
On Friday it will be exactly two years since the first vaccination against the corona virus was given in the Netherlands. That was in Veghel, where nursing home employee Sanna Elkadiri was vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. The Netherlands was the last EU country to start vaccinating. Since then, nearly 12.5 million people received one or two shots in the first round. Last fall, people could get a booster vaccination. Just over 4 million people showed up for it.
Those repeat injections work better against the omikron variant of the virus, which is now mainly circulating. In general, vaccines protect particularly well against serious illness after infection with the virus. The omikron variant of corona is less pathogenic than previous variants. Because a relatively large number of people are now contracting corona, there is quite a bit of herd immunity, partly in view of the vaccination round last autumn. That is why a new vaccination round this winter does not make much sense, says Van Eden.
Meaningful
However, when the weather gets warmer, people are less likely to infect each other. The resistance to the virus among the population will then decrease, he explains. Next fall, the season when people become more susceptible to infectious diseases again, there may be another wave of cases. Then a new round of injections would make sense, says the immunologist.
Perhaps such a seasonal campaign is useful every year, says Van Eden. “Comparable to the elderly who get the flu shot every year.” So far, about a third of the people who qualify for the repeat shot have actually had it. That’s not much, he thinks. Still, he thinks the injection round made sense. Hospitals are still very busy. If fewer people need hospital care due to a vaccination campaign, it has already been effective, says Van Eden.
By: ANP | Photo: ANP