The harsh reality is that coronavirus might be here to stay. While the Netherlands’ coronavirus vaccination campaign is well underway, the Dutch government worries that the virus could return even once the majority of the adult population has been vaccinated. The cabinet has therefore estimated that approximately 61 million additional doses will need to be ordered for 2022 and 2023.
So far, the government is only focusing on offering the vaccine to everyone over the age of 18, and predicts a turnout of 85 percent, which would mean approximately 12 million people will hopefully be at least partially vaccinated by the beginning of July. So far, the turnout has been slightly lower than expected, and is estimated to be around 75 percent.
Looking to the future, Health Minister Hugo de Jonge has announced plans to purchase an additional 61 million doses in order to ensure there is sufficient availability to fully vaccinate everyone over the age of 12 - this amounts to approximately 15,250,000 people.
Furthermore, De Jonge acknowledged that experts believe the virus could continue to circulate over the coming years, and that it might be necessary to vaccinate everyone on a yearly basis in order to ensure their protection.
It is not yet sure which vaccines will be purchased, but the EU has already signed a deal with Pfizer / BioNTech for the 2022-2023 period which would provide the Netherlands with over 35 million doses.
De Jonge did also suggest that he would favour vaccines that provided protection against any coronavirus variants, and that he would “opt for producers who have proven reliability in their deliveries to the EU,” suggesting that the Netherlands does not hope to rely on AstraZeneca.