Health Minister Hugo de Jonge told the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) this week that the Dutch government expected the Netherlands to receive 21,7 million doses of coronavirus vaccines from various pharmaceutical companies in the first six months of 2021. This figure does, however, rely on all vaccines being approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Should everything go to plan, De Jonge said that the country will receive enough doses in the first half of 2021 to vaccinate the majority of people in the Netherlands against COVID-19. There are currently around 14 million adults in the Netherlands, and, based on the government’s plans, around 11 million could be vaccinated in the first six months of next year.
According to initial projections by the GGD, non-risk groups in the Netherlands would have to wait until August before being vaccinated. However, the government is hoping to be able to vaccinate “healthy” people under the age of 60 before next summer.
While De Jonge remains hopeful about the vaccines and the Netherlands’ vaccination strategy, there are still a number of unknowns. For example, the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine is yet to be approved by the EMA, and whether it will be approved by the end of 2020 is still not completely certain. Furthermore, the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines are still in the (final stages of the) development phase, and so whether these vaccines are even effective, and for which demographics they are most suitable, remains unknown.
See the table below for the government's predictions for the number of people who will be vaccinated per quarter:
| Company | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pfizer / BioNTech | 250.000 | 2 million | 1,7 million | |
| Moderna | 200.000 | 650.000 | 700.000 | 1,6 million |
| AstraZeneca | 2,3 million | 2,6 million | 1 million | |
| Curevac | 300.000 | 800.000 | 1 million | 1,1 million |
| Janssen | 3 million | 6 million | 2,3 million | |
| Sanofi / GSK | 5,8 million |
In the first quarter of next year, the Netherlands was expected to receive 7,7 million vaccine doses, with one million of those coming from Pfizer. However, a recent update has revealed that the Netherlands will "only" receive 507.000 doses at the beginning of next year.
A further 14 million doses are planned for the second quarter. Almost half will come from AstraZeneca. Pharmaceutical company Moderna is also expected to deliver doses in the new year: around 400.000 doses in Q1 and over 1,3 million doses in Q2.
The Netherlands had also signed a contract for 11,7 million doses of the Sanofi / GSK vaccine. However, an announcement on Friday morning revealed that the development of the vaccine had been delayed due to disappointing research results in people over the age of 50. The doses were expected to be delivered mid-2021, but Sanofi / GSK have now pushed the delivery date back to Q4 of next year.