{"id":127391,"date":"2021-05-28T14:04:48","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T12:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=127391"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:39","slug":"students-jump-vaccine-queue-by-pretending-to-have-a-medical-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/05\/28\/students-jump-vaccine-queue-by-pretending-to-have-a-medical-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"Students jump vaccine queue by pretending to have a medical risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students from several cities, including Rotterdam, have been using a trick to get vaccinated, even though it was not their turn yet to receive the vaccine. They were able to schedule appointments at vaccination centres by telling the GGD (Regional Public Health Service) that they had a doctor\u2019s referral because they have a medical condition that puts them at higher risk from Covid-19. According to De Volkskrant<\/em>, the GGD rarely checks whether the students\u2019 doctor\u2019s referrals are genuine.<\/p>\n

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The Dutch newspaper has published a story<\/a>\u00a0in which young adults are quoted as saying they know dozens of young people who have received their jabs that way. They were successful at vaccination centres in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Schiphol, Koog aan de Zaan, Groningen and Huizen, and possibly elsewhere. The GGD has confirmed that it is possible to game the system this way, but does not want to make it hard for people to get their vaccines. However, the GGD has indicated that it will perform more checks of doctor\u2019s referrals from now on.<\/p>\n

Messages explaining how to jump the queue have been spread in WhatsApp chatrooms run by students. \u201cHaven\u2019t had your vaccine yet? It\u2019s really easy to get one,\u201d say the messages, which then go on to provide instructions. According to these instructions, the GGD does not check whether people really are at greater risk from Covid-19.<\/p>\n

'I don\u2019t want to waste any money on PCR tests'<\/h2>

In this way, students are jumping the vaccine queue, at the expense of people who actually are at greater risk from Covid-19, for instance because they have asthma, cardiovascular disease or diabetes. The newspaper quoted an Amsterdam-based student who got vaccinated \u2018because he did not want to waste any money on PCR tests\u2019: \u201cThose tests cost at least 85 euros. That\u2019s a pain if you want to travel during your summer holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previously, RTL Nieuws<\/em> discovered that people had successfully posed as health professionals to get their jabs. Counterfeit letters from \u2018employers\u2019 are not checked at the vaccination centres. The GGD did not modify its methods after the RTL Nieuws<\/em> story broke, as there are no other ways (according to the GGD) to check whether someone works in the healthcare industry.<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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