Netherlands begins COVID-19 vaccinations

By Busra Nur Bilgic Cakmak

ANKARA (AA) - The Netherlands on Wednesday launched its new coronavirus vaccination program, with nursing home employees and health care workers receiving the first shots.

Sanna Elkadiri, 39, working at a nursing home for people with dementia, received the first injection in the presence of Health Minister Hugo de Jonge, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) said in a statement.

“The beginning of the end of the crisis has now begun. What a milestone!” said de Jonge on Twitter sharing the first vaccination in the country.

According to RIVM, the country reported 56,440 new COVID-19 cases in the past week, while 621 more people died of the disease.

The country launched the process with the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine because it is currently the only approved COVID-19 vaccine in the EU, but the European Medicine Agency (EMA) on Wednesday is expected to approve Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine as well.