About the vaccin

Since October 2, 2023, the corona vaccination has been given with the most current available vaccine. This so-called XBB vaccine provides the best available protection against the current variants of the coronavirus. The corona vaccination for the autumn round is the XBB vaccine from pharmaceutical company BioNTech/Pfizer. This is an mRNA vaccine.

Novavax's protein vaccine is an alternative for people aged 12 years and older who do not want or are not allowed to receive an mRNA vaccine. Novavax has adapted the vaccine to the XBB variant.

More information about BioNTech/Pfizer's mRNA vaccine by age category

More information about the protein vaccine by Novavax

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine restores your protection against the virus. The vaccine produces antibodies. This reduces the chance that you will become seriously ill from corona.

Read more about how a vaccine works on the website of the Medicines Evaluation Board.

The RIVM website contains more information about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.

Watch the video's below for more information

Watch the video about the 11 ingredients of the corona vaccin on Youtube

Watch the video in which Professor Marjolein van Egmond explains how corona vaccines work on YouTube

Did you get the corona vaccination? You can still become infected by the coronavirus, but you usually become less ill. The chance that you will become seriously ill from corona is then smaller. The vaccines protect you against hospitalization and death. You can still infect others. Therefore, follow the advice to prevent respiratory infections. This way you protect yourself and people with vulnerable health.

Advice to prevent respiratory infections

Current information about the protection of corona vaccines against hospital and ICU admission can be found on the RIVM website.

The protection of corona vaccins

The corona vaccine for the autumn round is the XBB-vaccine from pharmaceutical company BioNTech/Pfizer. This updated XBB-vaccine has the same effect as previous mRNA vaccines. The difference is that the mRNA in the vaccine has been adjusted so that it better matches the current virus variants.

In addition, the XBB vaccine is a monovalent mRNA vaccine. This means that the vaccine only contains mRNA from the most recent coronavirus variants. In the previous autumn round, vaccination was done with bivalent vaccines, which, in addition to pieces of mRNA from the most common virus variants at the time, also contained mRNA from the original (Wuhan) virus. The monovalent XBB-vaccines therefore no longer contain mRNA from the original virus.

An mRNA vaccine gives the body information to produce a harmless protein called the spike protein. There are also spike proteins on the outside of the virus that causes corona. Our immune system recognizes the foreign spike proteins on the outside of the virus and produces antibodies and other defense mechanisms to clear the viruses. When the spike proteins are made after vaccination, our body clears away all the mRNA molecules.

Scientific data shows that the XBB-vaccines generate antibodies against most currently circulating coronavirus variants.

Research is being conducted into the effectiveness of the vaccines against various variants, including EG.5 and BA.2.86. So far, there is no evidence that the current subvariants are more pathogenic.

Novavax's protein vaccine is an alternative for people who do not want or are not allowed to have an mRNA vaccine. Novavax has adapted the vaccine to the XBB variant. The EMA positively assessed this modified vaccine at the end of October. Just like the modified mRNA vaccine, it protects better against the coronavirus variants that are currently available.

From December 13, people aged 12 and older who belong to the target group and have not yet had a corona vaccination this fall can go to the GGD for the corona vaccination with the modified Novavax vaccine.

The corona vaccination with the Novavax vaccine is only be available at a small number of GGD locations. You can make an appointment for this via telephone number: 0800-0174 .

At the moment, only the government can buy corona vaccines. The corona vaccines are not yet freely available on the market. That is why it is not possible to buy a corona vaccine yourself.

The Corona Dashboard shows which variants of the virus have been found in the Netherlands. There you will find the most recent information about the variants.

View on the virus

If a virus infects more people, it can change ever so slightly. It may be that a variant of the coronavirus is more contagious, makes people more ill or that vaccines are less effective. It is therefore important to keep a close eye on variants in the Netherlands.