Dutch authorities to quickly begin vaccinating health staff

AMSTERDAM (AP) — The Dutch government says that it will begin vaccinating thousands of frontline health care workers as soon as possible to ease pressure on hospitals hit by coronavirus-related staffing shortages. The announcement Saturday marked an abrupt change to a policy of beginning vaccinations on Jan. 8 that had drawn criticism for leaving the Netherlands lagging behind other countries that have already begun. In a statement, the government says that the “worrying situation in acute care is in part due to the illness of care workers, often corona-related.” It says it wants to start vaccinations as soon as possible.