The Vaccination Study on the Coronavirus (VASCO) is researching the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccinations in the population of the Netherlands. How effectively do the different types of vaccines offer protection against the coronavirus?
People in the Netherlands are being vaccinated against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, and have been since January 2021. Eventually, everyone living in the Netherlands over the age of 18 years will be invited to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
What is VASCO researching?
All the vaccines being used were previously tested on large groups of people, and those results showed that the vaccines are effective and safe. The circumstances during trials in which vaccines are being tested are often slightly different from actual practice. It is also possible that the people who take part in a clinical trial differ in some way from people in the general population. For example, the trial participants may not include as many older people or people with underlying health conditions. VASCO will investigate how effectively the different types of vaccines offer protection against the coronavirus in practice. We will also look at how long that protection lasts and / or if the vaccines offer protection against variants of the coronavirus.
Who can take part?
Anyone living in the Netherlands who is between 18 and 85 years old can take part in this study. It does not matter whether you have already been vaccinated, are still waiting to be vaccinated, or do not want to be vaccinated. If you take part in the study, you will help us learn more about how well the vaccines work against the coronavirus and how long the vaccines provide protection against the coronavirus.