THE HAGUE， Dec。 15 （Xinhua） —— As the Omicron variant sends a chill throughout much of the world， the Netherlands scaled up its COVID-19 booster vaccination campaign and extended containment measures。
The spread of the new variant has negatively affected sectors depending on winter holiday turnover， in particular the catering industry， and dampened the prospect of the overall Dutch economy。
The Dutch government has promised billions of euros to support the most affected businesses with wage subsidies and compensation schemes。
BOOSTER CAMPAIGN
The Netherlands was among the last countries in Europe to start its booster shot campaign， but due to the advancing Omicron variant， the Dutch government decided to speed up the efforts with an aim to offer every person over 18 a booster by the second half of January。
Announcing the measures on Tuesday， Dutch Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said everyone over 45 would receive an invitation to make an appointment by Christmas， while all adults should be able to make their appointments to get the booster shot by mid-January。
The plan， dubbed a “huge operation” by De Jonge， also included a decision to give the booster shot three months instead of six months from the last vaccination or previous COVID-19 infection。
According to the country‘s National Institute for Public Health and the Environment， the Omicron variant is expected to take over from Delta in the coming weeks， while a sharp increase in infections is anticipated in January。
Currently， 85。5 percent Dutch adults have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19。
OMICRON’S IMPACTS
The government “could not ignore the warnings about the Omicron variant” in taking decisions， said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte， adding that “Christmas time will not bring the good tidings you hope for。”
This is especially true for sectors much depending on Christmas season and winter holiday turnover as the restriction package includes a mandatory closure at 5 p。m。 for all locations and event venues， apart from essential stores， like supermarkets and drugstores， which can remain open until 8 p。m。
The measures were initially put in place at the end of November， when the average number of daily coronavirus infections rose to over 22，000 from under 1，700 at the beginning of October。
The sectors that suffer the most are bars and restaurants， offline retail， sports， culture and recreation， Marcel Klok， senior economist at ING Netherlands， a Dutch financial corporation， told Xinhua。
Ruud Bakker of the Eindhoven branch of hospitality union KHN told local broadcaster Omroep Brabant that the catering industry is the biggest victim of the Dutch coronavirus policy。
Queen Maxima of the Netherlands paid a working visit to a number of catering entrepreneurs in Geertruidenberg， a municipality in the province North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands on Wednesday afternoon。
Queen Maxima spoke with entrepreneurs at three locations about the impact of the coronavirus crisis on their companies and on their personal situation， according to a statement released by the Dutch Royal House。
“During the talks， attention was paid to the challenges of doing business in difficult times， to the impact of the evening lockdown on December， an important month for the sector， and to entrepreneurs‘ expectations for the longer term，” the statement said。
ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY
The virus’ new flare-up might also affect the Dutch economy more broadly。 “Without the new wave of the virus， which is not only due to Omicron， we would have expected higher growth numbers for the last quarter of 2021 and the first of 2022。 We now have 0。1 percent quarter-on-quarter growth expectation for Dutch GDP for the fourth quarter of 2021 and 0。2 percent for 2022，” said Klok。
“Those are low numbers， yet still positive。 Uncertainty is unusually high again， which means that we cannot fully rule out a decline in these quarters，” noted Klok。 “For the second and third quarters of 2022 we foresee acceleration with 1。1 percent growth。”
The Netherlands‘ gross domestic product （GDP） growth will be held back by the outbreak of the virus， the social distancing measures introduced in November and supply chain frictions in the fourth quarter which will continue into next year， said the expert in Dutch economy。
“We believe that public consumption is lower already due to less normal medical procedures， to make room for COVID-19 patients。 Consumption of households is expected to remain rather flat， largely similar to investment and export，” he said。
To alleviate the burden caused by the measures to entrepreneurs， companies and workers in various sectors， including sports and culture， the Dutch government will allocate 4。4 billion euros （around 4。97 billion U。S。 dollars） in order to extend COVID-19 support until March 2022。
“The Dutch government promised Tuesday to help the most affected firms at least until the first quarter of 2022， mainly via wage subsidies and fixed cost compensation schemes，” said Klok。 Enditem
