2024-07-12 17:57:38
VLAARDINGEN – Nationally, the average vaccination rate against diseases such as measles and whooping cough is decreasing, and this also applies to Vlaardingen. In our region, this is lower than nationally for almost all vaccinations.
A too low vaccination rate can lead to outbreaks of infectious diseases and therefore reduced herd immunity. Children can become seriously ill from infectious diseases, and even die from diseases that are relatively easy to control. And that requires additional measures, according to a motion at the council meeting on July 11 from VVD, D66, VV2000/Leefbaar Vlaardingen, SP. They do not want to introduce compulsory vaccination, that cannot be done, but they want additional measures to ensure that more people (especially children) are vaccinated.
This should be done on the basis of data on vaccination rates per area; This way, the parties argue, you can take much more targeted action. And this must come mainly from the Youth and Family Centre, because they have an overview of all those children, from birth to 18 years of age.
The motion was accepted unanimously, but responsible councilor Jacky Silos drew the council’s attention to the personnel problems at the CJG: you can want anything, but you also have to have the people.
Who exactly are the parents or carers whose children are not vaccinated? In the past, these were mainly members of ‘devout Christian believers’, but today the group is larger. More and more people are confident that it is better for children’s immune system to completely survive disease. And also more people who came to trust the government (more) after the corona crisis, and therefore also the vaccines. And finally, there are those who get their information mainly from social media. And then you tend to be guided more by algorithms than by the government. People who search for something on the Internet are presented with more and more of the same thing through these algorithms.
It is also difficult if, as a politician, you have to deal with a constituency with differences in church background, like councilor Wouter de Reus from the Christian Union/SGP. Although he fully supported the motion yesterday, he also believed that there should be room for people who do not want to be vaccinated for religious reasons. However, as long as there is no vaccination requirement, everyone has that space.
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