Order of vaccination for people who do not work in healthcare

Vaccination of people who do not work in healthcare began on 18 January 2021. People who have coronavirus cannot be vaccinated until they have recovered.

Vaccination schedule for people who live at home

Most people can travel to a GGD vaccination centre independently. They will be invited to be get vaccinated from oldest to youngest. People born between 1956 and 1960 are being vaccinated by region.

Vaccination schedule for people who are not in medically at-risk or high-risk groups, who live at home and can access the vaccination location on their own, and who do not work in healthcare
Year of birth	When	Vaccine	Where/by whom
1931 or earlier	From 25 January 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna	GGD vaccination centre (page in Dutch)
1932 - 1936	From 29 January 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna	GGD vaccination centre (page in Dutch)
1937 - 1941	From 5 February 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna	GGD vaccination centre (page in Dutch)
1942 - 1946	From 6 March 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna	GGD vaccination centre (page in Dutch)
1947 - 1951	From 6 April 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna	GGD vaccination centre (page in Dutch)
1952 - 1955	From 15 April 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca	GGD vaccination centre (page in Dutch) or family doctor
1956 - 1957	From 15 February 2021	AstraZeneca	Family doctor
1958 - 1960	From 15 April 2021	AstraZeneca	Family doctor
1961 - 1971	From 27 April 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna or Janssen	GGD vaccination centre (page in Dutch), family doctor or hospital
1972 - 1981	From mid-June 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna or Janssen	GGD vaccination centre (page in Dutch), family doctor or hospital
1982 - 1991	From late June 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna or Janssen	GGD vaccination centre (page in Dutch), family doctor or hospital
1992 - 2003	From late June 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna or Janssen	GGD vaccination centre (page in Dutch), family doctor or hospital

Vaccination of people who live at home and are unable to travel to a vaccination centre

From early April 2021 people who are unable to travel to a vaccination centre will receive a letter stating that they can get vaccinated at home by their family doctor. People born in 1960 or earlier will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine. People born in 1961 or later will receive a different (yet to be determined) vaccine.

Vaccination schedule for people in medically at-risk groups

Some people have a medical condition that makes them more likely to become seriously ill or die if they get coronavirus. These people, who are in medically at-risk groups, are given priority in the vaccination programme.

People with Down syndrome and people with morbid obesity (a BMI of 40 or more) are being vaccinated by region.

Medically high-risk groups (for people born in 2005 or earlier)

Group 1:

People diagnosed with a haematological malignancy (cancer of the blood, bone marrow or lymph nodes) during the past 5 years
People with severe kidney failure (dialysis or pre-dialysis patients)
People who have undergone an organ, stem cell or bone marrow transplant
People with a serious congenital immune deficiency

Group 2:

People with neurological conditions that affect their respiratory system (for example ALS patients and Duchenne patients)

Group 3:

People with morbid obesity (a BMI of 40 or more)
People with Down syndrome

Other medically at-risk groups (for people born in 1961 - 2003)

There are also other groups of people who are more likely to become seriously ill if they get coronavirus. This applies to:

People with a defect or disorder that affects their airways or lungs
People with a chronic heart condition
People with diabetes mellitus
People with other chronic kidney disease
People with an immune disorder or who are taking medication (immunosuppressants) that reduces their resistance to respiratory infections

These are the same people who are invited to get a flu jab every year.

Vaccination schedule for people in medically at-risk or high-risk groups, who live at home (both those who can access the vaccination location on their own and those with access isues), and who do not work in healthcare
Who	Year of birth	When	Vaccine	Where/by whom
People in medically high-risk groups* (group 1: includes people with severe kidney failure or a serious congenital immune deficiency)	2005 or earlier	From 24 March 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna	Hospital, in-house doctor or mobile vaccination teams
People in medically high-risk groups (group 2: people with a neurological disorder that affects their breathing)	1960 or earlier (no access issues)	From 24 March 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna	Hospital
People in medically high-risk groups (group 2: people with a neurological disorder that affects their breathing)	1961 - 2005 (no access issues) and 2005 or earlier (access issues)	From 2 April 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna	Hospital or mobile vaccination teams
People in medically high-risk groups (group 3: people with morbid obesity or Down syndrome)	From 1960 or earlier (no access issues)	From 15 February 2021	AstraZeneca	Family doctor
People in medically high-risk groups (group 3: people with morbid obesity or Down syndrome)	1961 - 2005 (no access issues) and 2005 or earlier (access issues)	From 15 February 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna	GGD vaccination centre (page in Dutch) or mobile vaccination teams
People in other medically at-risk groups	1961 - 2003	From early May 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna	GGD vaccination centre

Vaccination schedule for people living in residential care

Vaccination schedule for residents of nursing homes, care homes, residential homes and mental healthcare facilities
Who	When	Vaccine	Where/by whom
Nursing home residents and residents of care homes for people with intellectual disabilities	From 18 January 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna	Family doctor or in-house doctor
Residents of small-scale residential homes	From 25 January 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna	Family doctor or out-of-hours GP service
Mental healthcare inpatients	From 22 February 2021	Moderna, AstraZeneca or Janssen	In-house doctor or mobile vaccination teams

Vaccination schedule for residents of Bonaire, St Eustatius, Saba, Curaçao, Aruba and St Maarten

Vaccination schedule for residents of Bonaire, St Eustatius, Saba, Curaçao, Aruba and St Maarten who do not work in healthcare
Who	When	Vaccine	Where/by whom
Residents of St Eustatius and Saba	From 22 February 2021	Moderna	Local public health services
Residents of Bonaire, Curaçao, Aruba and St Maarten born in 1960 or earlier*	From 17 February 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna	Local public health services
Residents of Bonaire, Curaçao, Aruba and St Maarten born between 1961 and 2003*	From early April 2021	BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna	Local public health services

* The approach differs between islands. On some islands all groups will be vaccinated at the same time. On other islands, including Curaçao and Aruba, vaccination will take place in phases.

Order of vaccination may change

The order of vaccination may change if, for example, the supply of vaccine doses is delayed.

From oldest to youngest (in phases)

People born in 1955 or earlier are now being invited to get vaccinated. This is done in phases from oldest to youngest: first those born in 1931 or earlier, then those born between 1932 and 1936, then those born between 1937 and 1941, and so on.

Invitations are not sent out to all the people in an age group at the same time, but are spread out over several weeks. It is possible that you have received your invitation to get vaccinated but your partner or friend who is in the same age group has not.

Vaccination of people who have or have recovered from COVID-19

The Health Council of the Netherlands recommends that people who have had COVID-19 should also be vaccinated. The Health Council has announced that one vaccine dose is enough for people who have demonstrably had COVID-19 in the 6 months before being vaccinated.
People who have recovered from COVID-19 have developed some immunity. So one dose is enough to protect them properly. This will have consequences for the vaccination drive. For example, it will be necessary to establish whether or not someone has already had COVID-19. The government, together with RIVM, is looking at how to adapt the procedure accordingly.

If you have COVID-19 when you are due to be vaccinated you must stay at home and you cannot therefore be vaccinated at that time. Vaccination cannot take place until at least four weeks after you developed symptoms. When you no longer have any COVID-19 symptoms, you can make an appointment for your vaccination. The letter inviting you to be vaccinated contains more information.

Vaccination of young people born in 2004 and 2005

In accordance with the advisory opinion of the Health Council of the Netherlands, the following groups of young people will shortly receive an invitation to get vaccinated:

People in a medical high-risk group, born in 2004 or 2005; and
People living in a care home for people with intellectual disabilities, born in 2004 or 2005.

They will receive the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine. Young people in this category who live in a care home will be vaccinated by the in-house doctor. In smaller care homes, mobile vaccination teams will start rolling out the vaccinations. Young people with morbid obesity or Down syndrome who live at home will get an invitation from their family doctor. They will be vaccinated at a GGD vaccination centre.

Young people with a compromised immune system and young people with a neurological disorder that affects their breathing will be vaccinated at their hospital. They will receive an invitation from their attending consultant. People should not phone the hospital themselves, but wait for the invitation. Young people in this category who cannot access the hospital will be vaccinated at home by a mobile vaccination team.

No vaccine for other young people at this time

Young people who do not fall into a medical high-risk group are not eligible for vaccination at this time. As the availability of vaccines is limited, they are first being administered to older people who are at increased risk of severe COVID-19. The Health Council of the Netherlands will issue a new advisory opinion on the vaccination of other groups of young people born in 2004 and 2005 as soon as sufficient vaccines are available.

Other groups whose vaccination has been moved forward

Certain groups of people will be vaccinated earlier than initially planned. They will receive an invitation shortly:

people living in sheltered housing managed by a mental healthcare institution;
members of the riot police (Mobiele Eenheid);
staff at Dutch embassies and consulates and their family members; and
elite athletes participating in the Olympic Games.

Vaccination of people with an auto-immune disease

It is not yet clear whether the coronavirus vaccines are safe and work for people with an auto-immune disease.