HAGUE, Netherlands (PA) – Nearly two weeks after most other European Union countries, the Netherlands began its COVID-19 vaccination program on Wednesday, with nursing home staff and front-line hospital workers in the front row.
Sanna Elkadiri, a nurse at a dementia home, was the first to receive a shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at a mass vaccination center in Veghel, 120 kilometers (75 miles) southeast of the state. capital, Amsterdam.
“This is a very important moment for me as a person working in the healthcare sector. You want to provide care knowing your customers are safe, “Elkadiri said.” Without the vaccine it’s not possible, but from now on I can do it. “
The Dutch government has received fierce criticism for its late onset in vaccinations. Prime Minister Mark Rutte told lawmakers on Tuesday in a debate that authorities had focused preparations on the easy-to-handle vaccine made by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, which has not yet been authorized for use in the EU. , and not the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Dutch Health Minister Hugo de Jonge did not comment on the criticism as he spoke before Elkadiri rolled up the left sleeve of his purple nurse’s uniform to receive the first shot. Instead, he hoped for a future with the virus under control.
“Finally, after ten months of crisis, today we are starting to end this crisis,” De Jonge said. But he warned that “it will be a while before we have all the misery behind us. ”
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which requires ultra-cold storage before use, is the only injection approved so far by the European Medicines Agency. On Wednesday, the agency was considering approving another coronavirus vaccine, made by Moderna.
“I am very disappointed that we are two weeks behind other countries,” Rutte told the Dutch parliament.
The country’s public health institute said about 300,000 caregivers and hospital staff are the first in line to fire. There will be two more large-scale vaccination centers open on Friday and by the end of next week, 25 should be open nationwide, the institute said.
Health authorities plan to vaccinate a maximum of 66,000 healthcare workers a week from 18 January.
In a tweet thanking the staff involved in the deployment, Dutch King Willem-Alexander described the start of vaccinations as “a turning point that provides hope for a way out of this crisis.”
The Netherlands is in the midst of a five-week hard closure imposed when infection rates rose nationwide. In recent days, infection rates have been declining, but the country’s public health institute said Tuesday that the blockade has not yet produced a clear effect on infection rates.
It is confirmed that nearly 12,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the Netherlands since the pandemic began, although the actual number is higher because not all people who died with symptoms were tested.
Andre Rouvoet, president of the umbrella organization of local health authorities, welcomed the first vaccines that were broadcast live on Dutch television.
“It is a symbol of the hundreds of thousands (millions) of vaccines that will be administered in the Netherlands in the coming months,” he said.
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