RIVM changes folder: Be careful, you are not immediately protected after vaccination

RIVM will communicate more clearly after vaccination when you have the most protection from Corona. In the first weeks after vaccinations, people were not optimally immune to the virus, and this was not clearly reported in the messages and leaflets given to the vaccines. New folder now in printer, RIVM notifies NOS.

Many experts are pleased with this decision, as they believe that RIVM communications should be improved on this. “It’s very important for people to realize that it takes at least two weeks for protection to start working,” says immunologist Marjolyn Van Egmond. “This really needs to be explained more to people.”

The first vaccine, BioNTech / Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca, works on the immune system. You will notice this after 2 weeks, but it takes 1-2 weeks after the second injection before maximum protection is achieved. With the Janssen vaccine – which is not yet approved and only has one injection – maximum protection is reached after 28 days. This means that you are not only ideally protected against corona between injections, but also in the following weeks.

“This is a piece of cake for people in my field, but not for the rest of the Netherlands,” Van Egmond says. “I understand quite a bit that grandparents, for example, want to hug their grandchildren again after all this time. But don’t think you are protected immediately after that injection. That is why it is so important for people to know when this protection is best.”