The head of the Dutch acute care association, Ernst Kuipers, has urged the government to speed up the vaccine booster campaign to reduce the impact of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

Kuipers said everyone over 60 should be offered a third dose as soon as possible, rather than wait until seven months after the second dose. On Wednesday the government announced that people who turn 74 this year could now book a booster vaccine.

‘I think it would be sensible to speed up the booster campaign,’ Kuipers told radio show Sven op 1. ‘If I look just at people aged 60 and over, that’s about 4.5 million people in the Netherlands. Give them all a booster as quickly as possible.

‘That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do the others afterwards, but start with this broad age group instead of this very slow method of calling people up by year of birth.’

The government is also under pressure to speed up booster jabs now that European Union countries have set a nine-month expiry date for vaccine passports. The measure comes into force from February 1.

Health minister Hugo de Jonge said the digital coronavirus certificate (DCC) was ‘a good way to keep the borders open’, but it was important for all countries to apply the rules consistently.

The Netherlands has been widely criticised for its slow start to the booster campaign, which was originally not due to begin until December 1. Altogether 577,600 people have now received a booster vaccine, as well as 119,000 who were given a third dose because they have a compromised immune system.