For months Hugo de Jonge has been unable to do well in the eyes of all kinds of professional groups. The hospitality industry, but also retailers, museums, gyms, theaters, artists, the event industry and artists – they are unemployed at home on behalf of the Minister of Health. The chief corona is piling up error after error: hospitals were not prepared for large numbers of patients, healthcare institutions were isolated with degrading consequences, the testing policy was difficult to get off the ground, the corona collector was a failure, face masks were first unnecessary and later mandatory, we started too late with injections and the order of vaccination changes almost daily.
Politicians too were finished with De Jong’s inimitable policy and the brazen way in which the dubious implementation is constantly justified. At the beginning of the week it seemed that confidence in the minister would be lost. The fact that he had already resigned, along with the rest of the cabinet, did not matter for a moment. Former Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis was also sent home when she was outgoing. And if De Jonge was allowed to remain seated despite everything, then at least someone had to be next to it. He couldn’t do it on his own, that had been demonstrated more than once.
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The data breach at the GGD, leaving privacy data from corona tests on the street, seemed like the last straw. With the unexpected new calculation method, which miraculously had suddenly many more people vaccinated, De Jonge had already taken a step in the direction of the exit. The final push would follow later this week.
But after he went through the dust in the debate about the data breach, everything was suddenly forgiven and forgotten. The policy may not have been right, but De Jonge did his best. Week after week, PVV leader Geert Wilders had fulminated against the curfew; Thursday he suddenly had no objection. Rob Jetten, also opponent of the curfew, was silent in all languages.
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And Jesse Klaver, who thought he had support to put a second corona minister in addition to De Jonge, was left behind on his own. His supporters dropped him when push came to shove. The new PvdA leader Lilianne Ploumen, devoid of any compassion for De Jonge, understood nothing at all about the policy, but in her conclusion little was left of it: “We have to look at it again.” Suddenly, the troubled minister was no longer teased.
Suddenly the Chamber found Hugo de Jonge quite pathetic. Go on, fight a corona crisis without any past experience. No human has ever experienced a pandemic unless you have reached the blessed age of at least 103, but still – you missed that as a baby. So actually De Jonge is doing his very best. Nor is it his fault that the vaccine manufacturers cannot deliver what they have promised. Wilders, who emphasized time and again that De Jonge looked lousy, that the job was too tough for him, Wilders spoke to the esteemed Minister of Health on Thursday. Whether that was cynical, you never know at Wilders.
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It cannot be true that the criticism of De Jonge has suddenly disappeared. The minister’s policy is still far too varied for that, especially when it comes to vaccinations. Suddenly 60-65 year olds may be injected with priority because they would be vulnerable. This would be at the expense of the district nurses and the disabled, the Health Council advises. An advice that is leading for De Jonge. But not now.
District nurses and the disabled still go hand in hand with the over-60s. As long as you make enough noise. Teachers also shout very loudly now that they have to teach again on Monday. They want right of way, just like police officers. And when the middle class and catering industry reopen, those employees will also demand their priority.
That is not De Jonge’s fault. But a bit of consistent vaccination policy would be helpful.
And a bit of consistent parliament too.
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What a bullshit