/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data85608377-6ca4a0.jpg)
D66 will make every effort to save its bill that should give crèches the right to refuse unvaccinated children and employees. The proposal threatened to be voted down in the Senate next week because daycare centers would also be allowed to refuse people who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19. In order to prevent this situation, which is undesirable for many parties, Member of Parliament Paul van Meenen will adjust the proposal.
In February 2020, the D66 law was passed by a large majority of 109 MPs in the House of Representatives. Only CDA, SP, ChristenUnie and SGP voted against. Many parties sympathized with the proposal to offer crèches the choice of refusing children who have not been vaccinated against, for example, measles or rubella. It was thought that it would give parents the freedom of choice to send their young child to a safe shelter, and hopefully increase the vaccination rate.
When drafting the legal text, just before the corona crisis, D66 could not yet foresee the arrival of corona vaccines. These unexpectedly became a complicating factor, as became apparent recently when the cabinet gave an interpretation of the consequences of the law in the Senate debate. Because it refers to ‘the National Vaccination Programme’, crèches or out-of-school care locations could soon also refuse employees or children in the absence of a corona vaccination. Vaccination against Covid-19 has been part of the National Vaccination Program since last year and will remain so for the time being, although it is still unclear whether the entire population will have to be revaccinated in the future.
The VVD also had doubts, while it was positive about the original law
The ‘Covid complication’ surprised both initiator D66 and the senators. For parties that intended to support the law, such as the PVV and the faction-Nanninga affiliated to JA21, this was reason to reconsider their support. When it comes to corona vaccinations, these parties have been very critical of measures that tend towards vaccination compulsion or urgency in the past two years. The VVD also had doubts, while it was positive about the original proposal. This put the majority at risk.
:format(webp)/s3/static.nrc.nl/bvhw/files/2020/02/data54870755-0b989a.jpg)
Also read: Pediatricians warn: law doesn’t make crèches safer
novella
D66 MP Van Meenen is now going to adjust the legal text in such a way that it is clear that crèches may only refuse children or employees who do not have the basic vaccinations against childhood diseases. Because the law is already in the Senate, Van Meenen has to write a so-called ‘novella’ that also has to be approved by the House of Representatives. A novella is quite exceptional and in any case means that the law is delayed.
It remains to be seen whether the proposal will pass after adjustment. In the Senate debate last month, there was a lot of fundamental criticism of the effectiveness, necessity and feasibility of the proposal. It would provide parents with a false sense of security because a nursery that refuses unvaccinated children will have babies up to fourteen months who have not yet been vaccinated. In addition, the RIVM made it clear in an advisory report that the chance of an outbreak in a crèche depends more on the general vaccination coverage in the population than on the number of children vaccinated at a location. RIVM cannot say whether the proposal will increase the vaccination rate. This is now more than 91 percent, while 95 percent is desirable with a view to sufficient group immunity against, for example, measles.
D66 and the cabinet also disagree about a central element in the proposal, namely the register in which parents must be able to check whether children and employees of a crèche are fully vaccinated. According to Minister Karien van Gennip (Social Affairs, CDA), a daycare center can only be included in such a register if it can demonstrate that 100 percent of the children and employees have been vaccinated. According to D66, it is enough if a crèche can prove that it has an active refusal policy.
Childcare sector organization is happy that D66 is going to amend the law. “It would be very strange if there were an implicit Covid vaccination obligation for employees in a sector,” says director Emmeline Bijlsma. The trade association remains opposed to the law even after the amendment. “We understand some parents’ fears for their children, but the problem of vaccination coverage cannot be solved in one sector. This law is not a meaningful intervention.”
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of 11 May 2022
/s3/static.nrc.nl/inbeeld/files/2022/06/2606inbindruk-1.jpg?resize=360,180)
/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data85608377-6ca4a0.jpg&description=D66%20tries%20to%20save%20vaccination%20law%20with%20adjustment){kind=link}