Dutch Senate rejects compulsory vaccination at childcare facilities

The senators ignored the party's request to postpone the decision-making process until D66 MP Paul van Meenen had revised the original proposal, Dutch Christian newspaper Reformatorisch Dagblad writes. When the bill did come to a vote against the party's wishes, D66 proved to be the only proponent. All other parliamentary parties voted against it.

The law was to regulate that childcare centres would have the right to refuse non-vaccinated children. In February 2020, there was ample support for this in the Lower House, partly considering some local measles outbreaks occurring at the time.

Human Rights Council

However, doubts soon arose in the Senate. During the debate in the Lower House, D66 added a provision at the last minute, stating that it was justified if the law would make indirect distinctions based on religion. A senator on behalf of the Christian SGP, Peter Schalk, found this procedure rattling and requested additional advice from the Council of State, a constitutionally established advisory body to the government and Parliament. Later, the Human Rights Council chairman, an independent monitor of human rights in the Netherlands, was also asked for a reflection.

The response of the two institutions came down to the fact that despite the law, conscientious objector parents could contest the refusal of their unvaccinated child by a reception centre. In the Senate, this caused scepticism about the added value of the law.

In the decisive Upper House debate, it also transpired that being unvaccinated against Covid-19 and the HPV virus could be a ground for refusal for the reception centres. At that moment, the support was gone.

A fortnight ago, Van Meenen announced an amendment proposal, stating that Covid 19 and the HPV virus would fall outside the scope of the law after all. When it appeared on Tuesday afternoon that the party wanted to take another three months for this repair action, the senators' patience was exhausted. A vote followed, in which the law was consigned to the wastepaper basket.

Europe

Countries in Europe deal with vaccination requirements for children differently, according to data from the website Our World in Data. In countries such as Belgium, France and Italy, one or more vaccinations are mandatory for children in all cases. In Germany and Greece, vaccination is compulsory as soon as children go to nursery or school. Examples of countries where child vaccination is recommended but not mandatory include Spain and Portugal, Great Britain and the three Scandinavian countries.