A new analysis by RIVM shows that COVID-19 vaccines work well in preventing people from being admitted to hospital or ICU for COVID-19. This not only applies to the period when the alpha variant was most present in the Netherlands (4 April to 29 May), but also the period when the delta variant was the dominant strain (4 July to 12 August). The vaccines offer fully vaccinated people 95% protection against hospital admission and 97% against ICU admission. The chance that a fully vaccinated person with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 will be admitted to hospital is 20 times lower than for a non-vaccinated person. The chance of ICU admission for a fully vaccinated person is 33 times lower.

The implementation guidelines for COVID-19 vaccination 2021 have been updated. The latest version of the implementation guidelines is always available online (in Dutch). Section 1.3 outlines all major changes compared to the previous version; more minor interim changes are listed under Version Management (at the end of the document).

A survey by Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb has corroborated that people who have already had COVID-19 (as confirmed by a positive test result) are more likely to have one or more known side-effects after the first vaccination, regardless of the vaccine involved. This is also the case after the second vaccination with the vaccine made by Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty®).

Video: What can we learn from vaccination over time?

Since 1957, children in the Netherlands have been vaccinated against polio. These days, almost all children receive vaccinations against 12 infectious diseases through the National Immunisation Programme. What can we learn from this childhood immunisation programme in the fight against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2? Watch the video.

Video: What happens in your body when you get a vaccination?

What are mRNA vaccines? And what exactly do they do in your body? In this video, psychobiologist Boy Vissers visits the interactive Corpus Museum, taking you on a journey through the human body to show the route that the mRNA vaccine travels inside you.

Videos: Questions about vaccination

The videos made in cooperation with Margriet, Ouders van Nu and VIVA magazines are now also available on YouTube. In the videos, Lauren Verster talks to immunologist Marjolein van Egmond and former GP Ted van Essen. They answer questions about COVID-19 vaccination submitted by magazine readers:
How do coronavirus mutations occur and how well do COVID-19 vaccines protect against them? - YouTube
What about side-effects of the COVID-19 vaccines? And how well do they work? - YouTube
How well do the COVID-19 vaccines work and how soon are you protected? - YouTube
Can you get vaccinated against COVID-19 if you are pregnant or are trying to get pregnant?

Please note, all videos are in Dutch.

Extra attention will be focused on COVID-19 vaccination in various ways in the next few weeks. 
-    Wednesday, 22 September 2021, 20:00-21:15: webinar for healthcare professionals on the background of the COVID-19 booster vaccination, ethical dilemmas regarding COVID-19 vaccination, and the COVID-19 infection risk during pregnancy ( More information and registration for the webinar). Please note the event is exclusively in Dutch.