Trend Declining vaccination coverage

Summary

The report states that vaccination coverage among young children in the Netherlands has been edging down in recent years, while coverage among children aged nine and older has been falling for several years already. The decline results from a mix of factors, including a success paradox in which fewer infections thanks to vaccines reduce the sense of urgency, doubts about safety spread partly via social media, and distrust of government and the pharmaceutical industry. Health is increasingly seen as a personal choice that outweighs collective arguments such as herd immunity, and busy schedules and some religious groups rejecting vaccination also play a part. As a consequence, for highly contagious diseases such as measles and whooping cough, coverage in some groups and regions falls short of what stable group protection requires. Large cities and particular neighbourhoods show especially low rates, whereas HPV vaccination has increased thanks to more boys taking part.