As the Netherlands quickly approaches its target of having everyone fully vaccinated by September 1, the GGD is closing a large number of vaccination centres across the country, instead prioritising the so-called jab bus and pop-up locations in towns and cities with a lower vaccination rate.
A report from the GGD reveals that it plans to close at least 73 of its 143 vaccination centres over the coming weeks, explaining that it makes no sense to keep large centres open when so few people still need to be vaccinated against COVID-19. According to the government's corona dashboard, over 21 million jabs have taken place, and almost nine million people are already fully vaccinated.
At the start of the summer, over 200.000 people were being vaccinated every day. This number has fallen to only around 100.000, with most of these people queueing up for their second jab. This means the number of daily vaccinations will continue to decrease over the coming weeks.
“We now have overcapacity and that is not efficient,” explained one GGD spokesperson. “At the moment it is a waste of money to keep large vaccination halls open." Two of the four central vaccination centres in Amsterdam - the NDSM warehouse and the Calandhal - will close on August 15 and August 26 respectively. 14 locations in Rotterdam are set to close by the end of September.
In closing half of its vaccination centres, the GGD will be able to devote more resources to setting up pop-up vaccination sites and running the vaccination busses. These campaigns are aimed at improving the vaccination rate in rural areas and parts of the country with a lower than average vaccination turnout.
The new system will mean that, at their local community centre, mosque or sports centre, members of the population will be able to get vaccinated without first having to book an appointment. The GGD hopes the ease and convenience of the new locations will encourage those who have not yet booked an appointment or who are still in doubt to go ahead and get the jab.
This change in approach marks the start of a new phase of vaccinations in the Netherlands, explains Laetitia Gruwel from the GGD: “We are now moving from mass to customisation. The regional GGDs go into the neighbourhoods in a targeted manner. They know for themselves where it is best to install a mobile vaccination unit or jab bus.”
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