Senior adviser accused of undermining Dutch vaccine programme
Jaap van Delden says bulk of 11.7 million doses of AstraZeneca jab ‘superfluous’
about 3 hours ago
Jaap van Delden, head of vaccinations at public health institute RIVM: AstraZeneca “will soon no longer be needed”. Photograph: Joris Verwijst/BSR
The Dutch government’s senior adviser on vaccinations has been accused of undermining the coronavirus inoculation programme by apparently accepting that millions of doses of the controversial AstraZeneca jab due in the country next month will remain largely unused.
Jaap van Delden, head of vaccinations at the public health institute, RIVM, said at the weekend that because AstraZeneca was being given only to those between 60 and 64, just 1.5 million doses had so far been used – with some resistance among that age group.