So why take another shot if the number of infections goes down, there are no lockdown measures and no new variants appear that seem problematic? With the first series of vaccinations, 83 percent of people got the vaccine, but “now we’re seeing that uptake is much lower with every follow-up shot”, RIVM writes in a study.

Why don’t people get another shot?

In the mid-August study, a lot of people say they don’t get a chance because at the moment there seems to be little going on in the Corona area. But if the situation worsens, more people say they will get another injection. RIVM: “The vast majority of people interviewed who still have doubts about a follow-up vaccine say they are ready to receive it ‘if the situation worsens’.”

A large group also indicated that they would not opt ​​for a booster because you “can’t keep up with vaccinations” and many believed that “previous vaccinations provide adequate protection”.

RIVM Post some clips From interviews why people don’t go (or might go later). tripartite:

“Now I’m thinking September or October to take the repeat shot, depending on how things go. If the injuries are really increasing, I might go early.”

“Get vaccinated twice, okay? I also got a booster. But the fourth time I think I’ve already vaccinated, how long will it work? So I pushed the fourth side aside for a while.”

“Last winter, when I got a booster, it was more serious, the hospitals were more full. In the summer, things were getting better, and there’s also less and less risk of getting vaccinated.”

Why might a shot be useful?

Whether the situation will worsen in the fall, we simply do not know. “Omikron also attacked us in the fall of last year,” says virologist Gorben Pijlman of Wageningen University. “A fresh shot in the fall protects you well for a few months from infection and serious illness. But for many it now feels like it’s over.”

Pijlman says the shot is useful, especially if you’ve never had an omikron. “You can have that in the fall and one shot will help you reverse that.”

The latter is also due to the new type of injection that will soon be given in the Netherlands. This vaccine is called bivalent from Pfizer and Moderna. Vaccine targeting the original variant and the omikron variant, version BA.1.

“This has an added value,” says vaccinologist Ben van der Zeegst of Leiden University Medical Center. With this vaccine, you will not only be protected against the variants it contains, but also against other variants and possibly also variants that are still to come. Because they often don’t differ that much.”

Van der Zeijst also sees declining willingness to booster doses, and as far as he is concerned, information about the new vaccine should be mentioned often. “This hasn’t been brought into much light yet,” he says. “I suppose the government will continue to focus on that.”

But what if there is no new variable at all?

The fact that government communication can also help is illustrated by the RIVM research and graph published above. People say they are more likely to get a new shot when it comes to a new vaccine that works better against newer variants. When the RIVM report was published in mid-August, the new vaccine had not yet been approved, and it has since.

A new pathogen variant can place a significant new strain on health care. This is the reason for launching the upcoming vaccination campaign. Cabinet books in Message to Parliament: “Although it is not easy to predict, OMT-V indicates that the increase in infection in late summer and the associated increased burden on the health care chain and the social burden must be taken into account.” OMT-V was established to “evaluate whether a repeat shot is necessary and, if so, by which vaccine and for which combination”.

But it is also possible that there is no new variant, that the infection is not increasing, and that the situation is still the same. Van der Zeegst: “It can be really stressful. It’s going to stop on its own for this year. But we don’t know that, so it pays to have a chance. It might be the last time.”

Virologist Begelman mainly looks at influenza in this scenario. “It’s also mild sometimes for a year, and then another hot year. We might go to an annual dose for a bunch of people who want that.”

Just wait for a new version?

But Bigelman points out another argument for tingling anyway: Covid lung, nowadays also referred to as post-Covid syndrome. “The numbers vary a lot, but a large group suffer for a long time after the injury. They experience tremendous stress, sometimes brain fog. Why would you risk that?”

Biglman is of the opinion that people aren’t really afraid of it. The reason for this is believed to be that the syndrome is not yet well defined and the symptoms are varied. “The mechanism is still not clear, which makes it difficult to explain what it is.”

The video below with Joris proves that it can be very intense. He has 27 fake points a day. Will it go beyond that? Then he can count on a fever, headache, or worse: