The Netherlands started vaccinating people against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in January 2021. In the upcoming months, new groups of people will gradually be invited to be vaccinated. It is important to know whether people develop effective immunity to the virus after vaccination. To learn more, we are compiling information on how well people are protected against the virus. This is being investigated by RIVM.

Compliance with the coronavirus measures in the Netherlands, such as the night-time curfew, working from home and avoiding crowds, is still high. Support for the rules regarding visitors has fallen sharply, however, in response to the reduction from two people to one person. This has been accompanied by a continued decline in social and mental well-being. Those surveyed expressed a need for a clear course of action and fairer distribution of the burdens caused by the pandemic. This was clear from behavioural research conducted by RIVM and the Municipal Public Health Services (GGDs).

Chemical agent resistant coatings (CARC) contain the harmful compound hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI). RIVM has investigated HDI and the effects of occupational exposure to HDI on health.

RIVM monitors changes in the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in the Netherlands and the consequences of those changes. When a virus replicates, it can change very slightly every time. These changes (or mutations) are usually so small that they have almost no effect on the properties of the virus, such as how ill you become and how the virus spreads. Sometimes changes do cause a virus to behave differently, for example allowing it to spread more easily.

This page contains information about the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines . More information (in Dutch) about side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines can be found in the CBG-MEB Medicines Information Bank, and on the website of the Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb.