Because of COVID-19, more people are expected to get a flu shot this year. For this reason, RIVM has purchased more flu vaccines. Because of this, the turnout with the flu shot can be 10 percent higher than normal.
According to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the RIVM has “purchased as many flu vaccines as possible”. The flu shot does not protect against the corona virus. There is, however, more demand for the flu shot worldwide, because the risk group for flu and COVID-19 is largely the same and because countries want to prevent the care being burdened extra by a possible flu epidemic.
With the amount of vaccines purchased by the RIVM, the number of people who come to get a flu vaccine after a call can be 10 percent higher than normal. If the number of people getting the flu shot this year is even higher, there may be insufficient vaccines.
You will be called for influenza vaccination if you are at greater risk of a severe course of the flu. These are, for example, all people over the age of sixty, people with respiratory diseases such as asthma and people with diabetes. People who are called up for the flu shot will receive the shot for free.
Flu shot call probably not early
In July, the European Commission called on member states to consider how they can prevent a flu epidemic from happening at the same time as a revival of the corona virus. The European Commission wrote that bringing influenza vaccinations forward was one of the things countries could look to to prevent such a simultaneous outbreak.
According to the Ministry of VWS, talks about this are still ongoing in the Netherlands. However, the Netherlands is probably not going to bring the flu vaccination forward. “The flu shot works optimally a few weeks after vaccination. In the Netherlands we often only see a flu wave from the end of December, so it does not seem sensible to start the flu vaccination earlier than normal, for example in September,” said a spokesman for the ministry.
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