The share of vaccinated babies and toddlers has fallen slightly compared with last year, according to a report by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). The report reviews vaccination coverage each year.
The RIVM provides estimates because some vaccination data are submitted anonymously, without details such as the child’s year of birth. As a result, the recorded vaccination rate is less precise and slightly lower than the actual rate, the institute says.
Despite this, the RIVM concludes that vaccination rates among young children have declined slightly. Jeanne-Marie Hament, programme manager of the National Vaccination Programme, said: “The registered number of vaccinations is slightly lower. About 1.5 per cent of the vaccinations are anonymous, just like last year. As a result, we know that the total percentage has decreased slightly.”
RS-virus
About three-quarters of babies have been vaccinated against the RSV virus since September 2025. The jab led to a drop in the number of babies admitted to paediatric intensive care units during the autumn and winter. “Some parents prefer to wait or think their baby is too small, but the younger, the better. In most countries, babies receive the jab immediately after birth; in the Netherlands, this is done within fourteen days,” Hament said.
More than 500 people contracted measles in 2025. Most cases occurred among primary school children in areas with low vaccination coverage. The vaccination rate for mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) remains below 90 per cent, as it was last year. According to the RIVM, at least 95 per cent coverage is needed to prevent outbreaks.
Children will now receive their second MMR vaccination at the age of three instead of nine. Those born between 2016 and 2021 can still receive the second dose.
The vaccination rate for the HPV vaccine has increased for the second year in a row. Children receive this vaccine at around the age of ten. More teenagers were also vaccinated against meningococcal types A, C, W and Y.
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