The Netherlands is officially the last EU country to be vaccinating their population, and Roel Coutinho, former director of the Centre for Infectious Disease Control at RIVM, has called it “embarrassing”.

“You can see how urgent the need is. It is important to start quickly. We as the Netherlands should be able to do that anyway,” he says.

Coutinho emphasised that the longer vaccinations are delayed, the longer people will go unprotected and the more pressure will be put on the healthcare system, reports NOS.

“That is not only detrimental to people with COVID, but also to people with other diseases. It’s dramatic to say, but of course, this is going to cost lives. Every week counts.”

The former director explained that the cabinet was relying too heavily on existing vaccination plans for influenza, and realised too late that these would not work for the coronavirus. “The planning only started later. Now we are paying the price.”

Healthcare workers first

Most countries in Europe will prioritise vaccinating the elderly and vulnerable groups first. However, the Netherlands has chosen to begin vaccinating employees of nursing homes, care for the disabled, and community nursing. These will start on January 18 in 25 different locations.

Coutinho disagrees with the cabinet’s priorities. “The Health Council leaves no room for doubt: ‘start with the people who are most at risk, the group that will be hit the hardest.’ The moment you deviate from scientifically substantiated advice, you must have good arguments,” he says.

Minister Hugo de Jonge’s reasoning for the cabinet’s decision is that safety and care are paramount in the Netherlands. Coutinho does not see this as an argument at all, saying, “This is the case in all countries.”

Bureaucracy and logistics

De Jonge has also expressed that the registration and transportation of the vaccine is problematic, as it must remain frozen until use. Coutinho argues that “the registration cannot be a reason for delay,” and that “Logistics cannot be an argument to deviate from the scientific substantiation of an advice.”

The former RIVM director believes that too much bureaucracy is taking place at the expense of the Dutch. “People have to fully understand the consequences of what you do. RIVM is about planning, but currently, I find this hard to believe.”

Do you agree with Coutinho’s criticisms? Tell us in the comments below.

Feature Image: Nataliya Vaitkevich/Pexels

All travellers entering the Netherlands on bus, train, plane, or ship from December 29 must show a negative coronavirus test to their carrier. 

Previously this requirement was only for plane passengers. However, the Dutch government has now extended it to all providers of international public passenger transport. Car travel is not included.

The requirements stand no matter the country of your passport: Dutch nationals, EU Member States, and non-EU states are all subject to the same restrictions.

Test or no travel

Carriers can check passengers upon boarding or during the journey but must do so before entering the Netherlands. Any passengers who cannot show a negative test may be requested to disembark.

The test must be no more than 72 hours old upon arrival in the Netherlands. Travellers arriving from outside EU/Schengen Member States must also provide a negative test declaration in addition to their negative test.

The Dutch government stresses that a negative test does not replace the need to quarantine. All arriving travellers are strongly requested to undertake 10 days of home quarantine in the Netherlands. The government maintains that only necessary travel should be undertaken.

Negative tests to enter Belgium

As of today, anyone entering Belgium must also show a negative test result at the border — including people travelling from the Netherlands. The country fears that with the majority of shops in the Netherlands closed, Dutchies will flood Belgian shops instead.

Did you travel for the holidays? How will these new requirements affect you? Tell us in the comments below!

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Attempts to stop the new coronavirus mutation found in the United Kingdom have not been successful, believe the RIVM. 

The Netherlands had already detected two cases of the more-contagious variant back in early-December. However, the country imposed stricter flight restrictions on countries where the variant has run rampant in an attempt to avoid the spread.

Chantal Reusken, chief virologist at the RIVM, told the NOS that “several signals” indicate that the mutated disease has probably already spread across the Netherlands. She believes the new variant will appear in Dutch test samples within the next few days.

Possibly more infections

“Evidence is piling up that this variant infects people more easily,” Reusken told the NOS. “It is expected that, just like in the United Kingdom, this variant will eventually become the dominant strain in the Netherlands.”

This is bad news for the country. The new variant is not thought to be more deadly, but the Netherlands is already under the pump dealing with the original strain of the virus.

READ MORE | Shocking jump in weekly infections across the Netherlands

Detected in December

In the previous two detections of the mutated strain in the Netherlands, the two infected people had not had contact with each other and were infected ten days apart. Neither had travelled or been in the UK. They were both from Amsterdam.

This data backs up Reusken’s theory that the mutated virus is already circulating in the Netherlands. “Amsterdam is a busy region, so it’s a bad sign that it has shown up there.”

However, she doesn’t think the strain has become dominant in the Netherlands yet. “Then we would have seen it more often.” Reusken believes that the quick increase in infections since last month isn’t due to the mutated virus.

The new dominant Dutch strain?

Evidence that this more-contagious variant could become dominant in the Netherlands is increasing. Frits Rosendaal, epidemiologist at the LUMC, told the NOS that a higher contagion rate could make it take longer for the Netherlands to get the pandemic under control.

READ NEXT | All plane passengers to the Netherlands must have negative COVID-19 test from Tuesday

“You will have to take the same measures that we are already taking, only more people will have to stick to it to reduce the number of infections,” he said. “What else can you do in the Netherlands? We only have a curfew left.”

RIVM virologist Reusken agrees. She doesn’t think any of the current measures will change. “If the variant is actually more contagious, you could say that the need to comply with the measures will only increase.”

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Feature Image: Artem Podrez/Pexels

All travellers flying from an orange or red risk area abroad to the Netherlands must submit a negative coronavirus test from Tuesday, December 29. 

Previously, only non-EU residents and travellers from South Africa and the UK were required to provide proof of a negative test.

However, the Dutch government has decided to expand the requirement to include everyone flying to the Netherlands: EU, non-EU, and including Dutch passport-holders.

Where does this apply?

If your next question is: “where is an orange or red risk area?” — well that’s an easy one to answer. Everywhere.

Every single country in the world is currently high-risk, according to the Dutch government. The majority of countries are orange, indicating “only necessary travel.”