The government already wants to take a number of steps this week. In addition to the measures that will come into effect this week, the government is also preparing to continue if the tide in hospitals is not changed. Consideration is being given to introducing a comprehensive ban law in the workplace and in so-called non-essential stores, which include clothing or electronics stores, for example.

For these steps the law must be amended, and therefore the support of Parliament is needed. After the press conference, the opposition immediately drew heavy criticism.

In the morning, there is first a technical brief, in which MPs are updated on the developments of the epidemic. Hubert Burles, President of the Security Council, will also join the meeting for the first time.

One in ten people refuse the Corona vaccine

According to Mariska van Blankers of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), between 7 and 11 percent of the Dutch are not ready to be vaccinated. “This is higher than the other vaccinations of the National Immunization Program,” Van Blankers says. Roughly a third of these belong to the “non-Western society”. Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague have a relatively large number of unvaccinated people, while Utrecht does not.

Van Blankers states that unvaccinated people are often low-educated, “right-wing Christians” or immigrants (one third of the unvaccinated). According to her, younger naysayers often have a low level of education, but among adults, people with a low level of education are vaccinated relatively often. About 12 percent of those who refuse are reformed. This is not a large group, but according to it, such groups are difficult to assemble, which makes it easy to make fires. Many Dutch reformers live in the Bible Belt. In that area, several people have tested positive in recent weeks.

Naysayers have doubts about the vaccine’s effectiveness and have questions about side effects. Moreover, they do not trust the government and science, and rely on their health.

Convince three target groups

RIVM uses three target groups that must be persuaded to vaccinate. The first group would like to be vaccinated, but she was not there yet. With pop-up sites, temporary places where people can get a bullet, those “physical barriers” have been removed, according to Van Blankers. The second group has doubts. RIVM will focus on them in the coming period.

“We see that this group needs a different approach. It needs to be addressed individually, we need more time and more capacity. We especially like to use White Coat, a well-trusted celebrity doctor, to have a conversation with them.” The last group, which has not yet been contacted, are vaccine refusers.

Vaccine protection drops very slightly

Corona vaccines protect about 94 percent of hospital admissions. This is slightly lower than before, but falls within the previously calculated ranges, so no immediate conclusions can be drawn from the decline. “We have to watch it for a few weeks in a row to see if it’s something structural that continues,” Jaap van Dissel of the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) told the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

Vaccines are also less effective in preventing people from infecting others with the coronavirus. “Efficacy against transmission” fell from about 75 percent in June to about 50 percent in October. According to Van Dissel, this may have something to do with the “seasonal effect”. People are more susceptible to infection with such viruses in the fall and winter than in the spring and summer.