The MMR vaccination

All children in the Netherlands are offered two doses of the MMR vaccination. This vaccination protections them against mumps, measles and rubella. More information about this is available from the National Immunisation Programme.

Children can be vaccinated against measles for free through Youth Healthcare Services until the age of 18 years.

Adults can be vaccinated against measles at their own expense. This can be arranged through the Municipal Public Health Service (GGD) or a vaccination centre.

One dose or two?

After one dose of the MMR vaccine, 95% of people will be protected against measles. The National Immunisation Programme now offers two MMR vaccinations, to offer protection to the 5% of people whose body does not respond to the first dose. After two MMR vaccinations, 99% of people have built up antibodies to protect against the measles virus.

Protection against measles in the Netherlands

Overall, the Dutch population is well protected against measles. People born before 1965 are almost all protected because they had measles at some point in their lives. People born after 1975 are protected against measles if they were vaccinated through the National Immunisation Programme.

Measles was less common during the childhood years of people who were born between 1965 and 1975. These people are only protected against measles if they actually had the disease at some point, or if they were vaccinated outside the context of the National Immunisation Programme.

Anyone who has not been vaccinated against measles, and has never had a measles infection, can get measles. A measles outbreak can occur in places or within groups where under 90% of people are protected against the disease. Would you like to know about measles protection where you live? You can look at maps of the vaccination coverage per vaccine per municipality.

Am I protected against measles?

• You are protected against measles if:
  •    You have had measles before, because:
  • you were born before 1965 (when measles was endemic)
  • you were born between 1965 and 1975 and a doctor has confirmed that you have already had measles
  • a doctor confirmed that measles was present in the Reformed community where you lived
  • you have a doctor’s statement showing that antibodies against measles were found in your blood
• You were vaccinated according to the schedule of the National Immunisation Programme from 1975 on:
  • 1 vaccination against measles (MMR vaccination) offers 95% protection against measles
  • 2 vaccinations against measles (MMR vaccination) offer 99% protection against measles
• You were vaccinated outside the context of the National Immunisation Programme (which would be entered in your immunisation booklet/certificate):
  • by the GP before 1975
  • because you travelled to a country where measles was common.

The following shows which measles vaccinations were offered to people in the National Immunisation Programme in the Netherlands, by birth year:

• People born after 1-1-1975 and before 1-1-1978: 1 vaccination against measles.
• People born after 1-1-1978 and before 1-1-1983: 1 vaccination against measles at 14 months and 1 MMR vaccination at 9 years.
• People born after 1-1-1983 and before 1-1-1986: 2 MMR vaccinations. This was a catch-up vaccination campaign.
• People born after 1-1-1986 and before 1-1-2025: 2 MMR vaccinations: 1 at 14 months and 1 at 9 years This was the standard schedule of the National Immunisation Programme.
• People born after 1-1-2025: 2 MMR vaccinations: 1 at 14 months and 1 at 3 years. This is the new schedule of the National Immunisation Programme.

Go to MijnRIVM to check if your vaccination details are available from RIVM and, if so, how to access your own data.