From 11 January, the Amsterdam Municipal Health Service (GGD) will vaccinate people with the corona vaccine of Pfizer/BioNTech. This will take place in RAI Amsterdam, where, in addition to the current test streets, a vaccination location will also be set up. It concerns the staff of nursing homes, the care for the disabled and the home care of the Amsterdam-Amstelland region.
The Dutch vaccination programme will start on 6 January, but it will then take a few weeks before large-scale vaccination is carried out. The expansion is gradual. No later than Monday 11 January, the GGD will vaccinate at three locations in the country. From Monday 11 January, vaccination will take place at 25 central locations. It is Amsterdam's turn.
Minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Health) announced that as of 28 December, the Netherlands will receive 164,775 vaccines weekly from Pfizer. The planned vaccinations depend on the exact delivery dates and the exact volumes of the vaccine. It is expected that there will be enough vaccines to fully vaccinate the care staff of the nursing homes, the care for the disabled and the home care around mid-March. The Amsterdam Municipal Health Service uses its own staff for this purpose.
Care staff receive an invitation via their employer and can then make an appointment for the vaccinations at the GGD via a national number from 4 January. In principle, employees are given the choice of location in the Netherlands where they would like to be vaccinated.
Vulnerable elderly
The vaccination sequence depends on the characteristics of the Pfizer vaccine. It must be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius and therefore does not lend itself to the vaccination of vulnerable elderly people in nursing homes, as the original plan of the Health Council and Minister De Jonge stated. The packaging of the Pfizer vaccine is also more suitable for large-scale use in central locations. That is why the Ministry of Health asked whether the GGD's wanted to vaccinate, and not the company and nursing home physicians, as the original plan was.
The large-scale vaccination campaign among non-risk groups will not start until later this year. The Amsterdam Municipal Health Service is already preparing for this.