In early August 2021, a research group reported the effectiveness of vaccination against the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the Netherlands by monitoring individuals in close contact with those known to be infected, finding that around 71% protection from the transmission was granted by vaccination.
This study was conducted from February to May 2021, during the rise and peak of the dominance of the alpha variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, in early July of the same year, non-pharmaceutical measures were relaxed in the Netherlands, and the highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 delta variant quickly rose to prominence.
