The first repeat shots were taken in mid-September. People with a higher risk of getting sick are invited first. It concerns the over-sixties, the people who receive the flu jab every year, and then it is the turn of healthcare workers. After this, anyone aged 12 and older can make an appointment for the repeat shot.
The injections should give the immune system a boost, so that people are better protected in the event of a new corona wave. RIVM noted last week that this wave has officially started. Meanwhile, not everyone in the higher-risk groups has had the chance to get a shot yet. At this moment it is the turn of the people who were born in or before 1959.
More than 1100 people admitted
The number of people hospitalized with a corona infection is increasing rapidly. Hospitals are currently treating 1,126 people who tested positive, the highest number since July 20. The National Coordination Center for Patient Distribution (LPCS) announced these figures today.
Last Friday, the counter stood at 962 admitted people: so this weekend 164 more people have been admitted than people have left the hospital. That is the largest weekend increase since mid-March.
RIVM indicates that the campaign is on schedule. “We have followed the advice of the OMT,” said a spokesperson. “You don’t want to be too close to the previous shot, and you don’t want to vaccinate too early, which can cause the immunity to decrease again.”
Beginning of the wave
According to the spokesperson, we are not too late, even though the wave has already started. “This may be the time to vaccinate. We are relatively at the beginning. We are not at the peak level.”
According to the RIVM, this is also difficult to predict. “The autumn wave was expected, but we do not know when and how high the peak will come. Then you have to protect people at the right time,” says the spokesperson.
Immunologist Huub Savelkoul of WUR agrees. “The wave has only just started. If you get a repeat shot now, then you are optimally protected between day seven and day ten afterwards. You will stay that way – depending on your age and health – for at least six months,” explains Savelkoul. “We will not reach that peak in two weeks. So if you vaccinate now, you will be well on time.”
Other variants
But what Savelkoul is concerned about is the vaccine used for the repeat shot. The government has vaccines that are adapted to the current variants of the virus. There are vaccines against subvariant BA.1, and newer vaccines that have already been adapted to BA.4/5.
When injecting, no distinction is made between the vaccines. The vaccines that came in first are the first to be prepared, according to the ministry. Immunologist Savelkoul likes to see things differently. “The BA.1 variant caused quite a few infections at the beginning of this year. We now have another variant (BA.4/5) that is spreading.”
Because the BA.1 vaccines came in earlier, the vulnerable group that is now being called up for their repeat shot would therefore be vaccinated with them. “I hate that you’re rolling out vaccines for the most vulnerable people that you know isn’t the best. And you already have something better.”
That does not mean that the shot that is still aimed at BA.1 offers no protection at all. “It does protect. But what is enough for whom? It doesn’t matter much to the general population, so I would say you have to turn it around: give the vulnerable the best vaccine.”
More effective than old vaccines
The ministry indicates that the differences between the omikron subvariants are very small and that the vaccines therefore do not differ much. “The bivalent BA.1 and BA.4/5 vaccines are both expected to be more effective against the now circulating virus variants than the monovalent vaccines.” Bivalent means bivalent, in other words: the newer vaccines protect against both the omikron variant and the original virus.
Broad protection
But whatever vaccine is injected, RIVM is convinced that the current vaccination campaign ensures that we can combat the autumn wave well. “Whether it’s BA.1 or BA.4/5, the vaccines are expected to provide broad protection against serious disease,” the spokesperson said.