The last vaccination of the EU countries started only today, the population does not hide their anger

In the Netherlands, the vaccination program started two weeks after the start of vaccination in the EU and almost a month after the start of vaccination in the UK. Following criticism from the public and the opposition, the Netherlands has decided to advance the start of vaccination against COVID-19 and start the vaccination campaign two days ahead of schedule, that is, on Wednesday.

The Dutch government has been widely criticized for delaying the launch of a vaccine developed by pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he was “very disappointed” this week.

175,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine have been stored in the east of the country for some time.

The first dose of the vaccine was administered to 39-year-old Sannai Elkadiri in a nursing home in the southern city of Vegel, under the supervision of senior officials in the country.

Health Minister Hugo de Jonge told reporters that it was an “incredible moment.”

“Finally, ten months after the crisis, we are beginning to come out of it,” said the minister. It has been widely criticized for its late start and unclear vaccination strategy.

Workers at high-risk hospitals treating patients with coronavirus infection will be vaccinated across the country on Wednesday.

The Netherlands started vaccination almost two weeks after the other members of the Community, who started vaccination programs on December 27, and almost a month after the United Kingdom.

The hospital and emergency departments insisted last week that their staff get vaccinated first. Due to the huge flows of COVID-19 patients and “down” staff, the clinic is barely holding up the pressure.

The Health Minister has promised that 30,000 nurses and doctors will initially be vaccinated in hospitals. It is not yet clear when the group at greatest risk will be: those over 80 years old and patients with comorbidities.

The country’s government received harsh criticism for such delays during a debate in parliament on Tuesday. MPs and residents made no secret of their anger that the vaccines were kept in the freezer for two weeks instead of starting the vaccines.

“I am really disappointed that we are doing this two weeks later than other countries,” the prime minister told lawmakers.

At the time, the Health Minister acknowledged that the government was not quick enough to distribute the vaccine.

Authorities have previously blamed logistical problems for the delay.

The Netherlands has had the strictest quarantine since the start of the pandemic since mid-December. All schools and convenience stores have been closed and people are urged not to leave the house unnecessarily.

Rutte has previously advocated for more lenient quarantine measures than most of the Netherlands’ neighbors.

Why the delay?

The Dutch Prime Minister, Mr. Rutte, tried to defend himself against the criticism by saying that the Netherlands was confident that the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, which did not need to be kept at extremely low temperatures, would be the first to be approved by the European Union. Posted by Politico.

However, on December 21, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave the green light for the first time to the BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine, which is quite difficult to use in small vaccination centers due to the need to keep the vaccine on ice. dry. The vaccine is valid for only five days in a normal refrigerator.

Mr. Rutte added that the vaccination program in the Netherlands was further complicated by the fact that the vaccine had been approved earlier than expected.

“Now looking back, I think it would have been better if I had personally asked the Dutch Health Service (DGS) to start preparing earlier for the establishment of larger centralized vaccination centers. And now we have not been able to get GGD vaccination points before, ”said the Dutch prime minister.

The Dutch authorities have been extremely criticized. The former head of the country’s health system, Roel Coutinho, warned that the “shameful” vaccination strategy chosen by the country “would cost lives.”

During an urgent parliamentary debate, opposition politicians called the scheme “chaotic and confusing” on the part of the authorities.

“It just came to our attention then. This is not a strategy, but the most real chaos: absolute chaos, and the preparation was insufficient and overdue,” also contributed to the criticism Geert Wilders, the leader of the largest opposition party in the Netherlands.

He called the Netherlands “the rural fools of Europe” because of the situation.

“It’s just one striking example of the incapacity of the country,” said Tim, a general practitioner.

“We had almost a year to plan, take care of the logistics and update the software. But for some reason all those important jobs are left to the last minute. Too slow preparation and wrong decisions, ”said Arjen Joosse, an oncologist from the Netherlands.

According to the BBC, one of the main reasons for the delay is the problem with the IT system, which needed to be updated before allowing health officials to monitor appointments and verify which patient and which vaccine they received.

The systemic delays since the start of the pandemic are symptoms of a Dutch bureaucratic healthcare system that has been built to be efficient but has been rendered inoperative by individual elements. When we had to react quickly to the changing situation of the coronavirus every day, its shortcomings were revealed in all their beauty.

“Faced with the crisis, we lack a leader, a leader, because the current situation is very reminiscent of the war,” Tim from Holland told the BBC (reluctant to reveal his surname).

Alan Wouda, a 23-year-old student, said the Dutch are too bothered by stubbornness not to admit mistakes they have made. Another student, Joelle Hibbel, rhetorically asked if “anger and great frustration can be felt at the same time”: “This is exactly how I feel about the Dutch authorities’ handling of the general pandemic situation and the need for vaccination in particular”.

Hugo de Jonge, the Dutch health minister in the spotlight, says safety is a top priority for the country’s authorities, saying that some countries, such as the UK, had “cut corners” to start vaccinating. to his people before. .

The UK urgently approved the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, but the EU’s European Medicines Agency needed more time.

Mr de Jonge initially defended the late start and dismissed criticism as “it was not a race.”

The mass vaccination will be available in the 25 locations designated by the Dutch Health Agency from January 18.

Based on Dutch calculations, the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine was planned to be used first. Unlike Pfizer, it doesn’t need to be kept at extremely low temperatures, so local doctors can distribute it. This alone means that there are no logistical solutions to distribute the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, which arrived in the Netherlands on December 27.

Finally this week, the Dutch Minister of Health recognized the need to act faster: “Unfortunately, but it turns out that we are not flexible enough to adapt to change. I had to ask the relevant authorities in the past to prepare, because only they have enough knowledge and experience to deal with the mass vaccination problems. “