To increase the corona vaccination rate in the Netherlands, “the long breath” is needed. This is what Marcel van Raaij, program director of the corona vaccination program at RIVM, said in a technical briefing about corona policy in the House of Representatives. He still sees plenty of opportunities to surprise people.

Roughly speaking, the campaign focuses on four groups, who also show up less often in other vaccination programmes. These are young people, people with little faith in the government, people with a migration background and people with a religious background. An estimated 5 to 10 percent of the population does not want a vaccine for reasons of principle.

RIVM will focus less on that specific part of the population. “The focus is on the groups that actually still want to ask those questions. We think you should put the most energy into that. We won’t really surprise people who really don’t want to with another folder.”

At the moment, for reasons, they do not (yet) opt for a vaccination. For example, information about vaccination can be too complex of not being achieved initially. Also, disinformation, fear of side effects and the lack of urgency keep people away from a prick street.

40 percent first shot via free walk-in

Through targeted campaigns, for example in other languages ​​or via TikTok, the government doubters. It should also be made more comfortable for people to be vaccinated, for example by means of an injection bus around the corner or an injection hour for people with a fear of injection.

The free walk-in vaccination, where someone can be vaccinated without an appointment, is a great success, according to Van Raaij. Last week, about 40 percent of all first shots were taken at walk-in locations. A record number of about 2750 people took advantage of the free walk-in on Saturday 11 September. There are now about 200 locations in the Netherlands where vaccination is carried out without an appointment.