The Dutch health council is recommending that the age for the annual coronavirus vaccine is raised from 60 to 70 and older from the coming autumn.
The number of infections, hospital admissions and deaths has gone down, but the virus continues to have a more serious impact on the population than other airway infections such as flu, the council said.
In addition, research in 2023 and 2024 shows that the risk of being admitted to hospital rises considerably among the over-70s.
The council was asked by the health ministry to assess whether the current coronavirus vaccination strategy needs adapting.
It concluded that the general age for the vaccine should rise to 70, but that people aged 50 to 69 with underlying health issues should also be eligible. This includes people with COPD, heart failure, diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
Children and younger adults with serious illnesses also remain eligible for the vaccination, as do health service workers who work with high-risk patients.
Health council recommendations are usually accepted by the health ministry.
The government has recently been embroiled in a row about its plans to only provide free vaccinations for shingles to people who are aged 60 because it would be too expensive to extend the programme to older people.
From 2027, the ministry of health will allocate €47 million a year to the vaccination programme, rising to €53 million a year from 2030. In practice, that means at least 150,000 people can be vaccinated each year.
The shingles vaccine is relatively expensive and more than five million people in the Netherlands are aged 60 or over. Two doses are required per person, costing around €400 in total.
People who are not eligible can still opt for vaccination privately, but will have to pay for it themselves.
