Nursing Nursing Home To Receive The First COVID-19 Vaccine In The Netherlands

Illustration - A number of people are undergoing strict isolation when facing lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - A nurse, Sanna Elkadiri, 39, is the first person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the Netherlands.

Reported by Antara, Thursday, January 7, Elkadiri is a nurse who deals with dementia patients at a nursing home in the southern region of the Netherlands. The first vaccination in the Netherlands, broadcast live on a television channel, uses the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech.

The Netherlands is considered to be slower in launching the COVID-19 vaccination program when compared to several European Union member countries which started vaccination last month.

"This is the beginning to end this crisis," said Dutch Health Minister Hugo de Jonge during the first vaccination ceremony.

Elkadiri said that he had no doubts when he accepted the offer to be the first person to take the COVID-19 vaccination. For the first shot of the vaccine, Elkadiri comes directly to a vaccine distribution center in the Netherlands which can serve hundreds of vaccinations per week.

The public was outraged and support for the government decreased at the end of last week after they learned that the Netherlands was one of the main EU members most recently starting the COVID-19 vaccination program.

The Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, while attending a meeting in parliament on Tuesday, January 5, explained the reasons behind the slow launch of the vaccination program.

"The main problem is that we received the vaccine ahead of schedule," said Rutte. "The vaccines we receive are different (from what we thought) ... making it impossible for us to be more flexible (in granting permits, ed)," said PM Rutte.

The Dutch government initially targeted that AstraZeneca's vaccine would first get approval from the relevant authorities, then followed by Moderna's vaccine. However, Rutte was unable to explain the reasons behind the plan. Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine is one of the anti-viruses recommended by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

After conducting examinations, the Dutch Government and the National Institute for Health (RIVM) announced plans for vaccination of the elderly in nursing homes. They will be one of the first groups to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the Netherlands.

The vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech will then be given to workers in nursing homes and health workers.

The list of vaccine recipients will continue to expand as supplies increase.

In recent weeks, positive cases of COVID-19 in the Netherlands are still quite high. The spike in cases still occurs, even though the government has closed schools and most businesses.