Corona 2021: a holiday in May or in the summer? This is De Jonge’s answer

Can we go on holiday in May or in the summer despite corona? Caretaker minister De Jonge gave an answer in the question round after the press conference. The second quarter gives hope.

“Let us hope so”, De Jonge replies to the holiday question, put by De Telegraaf. “The honest answer is: there is very little certainty at the moment.”

A little perspective thanks to millions of planned vaccinations

There is some perspective all the same. “You do have to look at this, of course: what developments are we going to see in the period ahead.” Millions of vaccinations, among other things, could make more possible.

“We see that for now, in the shorter term, we are protected mainly by all the measures we are taking”, De Jonge goes on.

“Which is why, unfortunately, we still have to extend those measures as we have taken them.”

• “But we also see also that if you look at how many vaccines will have been given in that second quarter (…), at some point we will have protected a very great many people: a few million jabs in that first quarter; but what we hope , of course, is that we can give truly many millions of jabs in that second quarter.”

May holidays or summer holidays? The exact moment is unknown

That seems to leave some cautious room for the May holidays. Even so, De Jonge cannot be more concrete in his answer.

“When exactly the moment comes that you have protected enough people to no longer need any measures, that we cannot predict well at the moment.”

• “That has to do not only with the great uncertainty about the number of deliveries coming in (…), it has above all to do with the extent to which a vaccine protects not only against falling ill – but also against spreading the virus. So whether a vaccine also counters transmission.”

“And particularly because that too is an uncertain factor , you cannot yet say exactly: well, from that moment on you will indeed be able to book your holiday.”

A small gesture

Finally the caretaker minister wants to make a small gesture once more.

• “If you squint at the number of people who are most vulnerable to the virus, and the people who care for them, essentially the groups from the Health Council – somewhere between 5 and 6 million, then you do know that you will reach that number in the second quarter, as things look now.”