Dutch Christians under scrutiny for not taking vaccine
A church in the Dutch town of Putten, a municipality on the Bible belt. Photo ANP, Jeroen Jumelet
Western Europe
They would be responsible for the rising infection rates and would occupy hospital beds. Unvaccinated people in the Netherlands are under scrutiny. Especially Christians from the so-called Bible belt.
In recent weeks, there has been a lot of attention for these people. Reason: a lot of patients in hospitals suffering from the coronavirus are from this Bible belt. An area located diagonally across the Netherlands, in which a lot of conservative Calvinists live. Statistically, the vaccination rates in this region are lower compared to the rest of the Netherlands.
Dutch media gave a lot of coverage on this subject. Should unvaccinated people have the same rights to medical care as vaccinated people? The chairman of a Dutch union for health professionals told in television show EenVandaag that it would be “very unfortunate” when “unvaccinated people occupy intensive care beds”. Hugo de Jonge, the Minister of Health, said that these beds should be for other, vaccinated people who need them.
Francisco van Jole, editor-in-chief of op-ed website Joop.nl, went a step further. Anyone who does not take the vaccine because of his faith and does want medical attention “should just die”.
Religious motives
However, these unvaccinated Christians are a small percentage of the total number of people who did not yet take a jab. In total, there are around 2,3 million persons who are not vaccinated. About 83 per cent of the adults took a double dose of the vaccine. According to Christian daily Reformatorisch Dagblad (RD), there are around 100,000 people who do not want to take the vaccine because of religious motives.
Among the conservative Protestants, there is a group that doesn’t take the vaccination because they see prevention as being contradicting God’s fatherly providence. The resistance against vaccination has always been part of the Dutch pietists from the 19th century onwards.
Research from the Christian daily Nederlands Dagblad shows that people from Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht are admitted to hospitals as many as people from the Bible belt. However, infection rates on the Bible belt are rising faster.
Mayors
These rapidly rising rates were the reason why mayors of mainly Christian towns and villages called upon the population to get a vaccination. “I hope everyone will use the medicines given to us to prevent this dangerous virus from spreading”, said Christian Democrat Jan Kottelenberg of the Neder-Betuwe municipality.
Professor of Medicine and CEO of Erasmus MC University Ernst Kuipers thinks unvaccinated people should reconsider their decision. He sees vaccines as a gift from God and does not think that taking a vaccine goes against God’s providence. “We take preventive measures all the time”, says Kuipers in an interview with RD, “When we walk down the stairs, we hold the handrail. When we drive a car, we put on a seatbelt.”
New restrictions
Meanwhile, the rising infection rates cause concerns in the Dutch government. In September, the Dutch decided to get rid of social distancing and re-open the catering industry at full capacity. Only nightclubs had to remain closed. People could visit public facilities with a negative test or proof of vaccination.
The loosening of these restrictions might have gone too fast; the number of infections grew over 50 per cent in the last seven days, compared to the week before that. As a result, the Dutch government has decided to hold a press conference next week. In that press conference, new restrictions are expected.
It is not yet known what kind of restrictions will follow. Dutch parliament did not react enthusiastically to the comments of Health minister Hugo de Jonge to put restrictions specifically on unvaccinated people. “I think it is unjust and unfair to punish the unvaccinated people”, said right-wing politician Geert Wilders. It’s known that many people who are sceptical about vaccination vote for Mr Wilders or other right-wing parties.
Medical professionals in the Outbreak Management Team, an advisory body that advises the Minister of Health, tend to agree with Wilders. “That would go against personal freedoms”, told microbiologist Jan Kluytmans news site Nu.nl. Other experts, such as virologist Menno de Jong and Intensive Care physician Diederik Gommers think that specific measures against the unvaccinated would polarize Dutch society.
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