WILLEMSTAD – Curaçao's vaccination coverage figures are largely missing from the latest RIVM 2026 National Immunisation Programme report, making it impossible to assess from the report how well children on the island are protected through the regular vaccination program.
In the section covering the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, the Curaçao column is marked with an asterisk in nearly all categories, indicating that the data were not submitted on time or could not be provided due to circumstances.
As a result, the report provides no usable figures for Curaçao for infant vaccinations, preschool vaccinations, school-age vaccinations, HPV vaccination or adolescent MenACWY vaccination.
The absence of Curaçao data stands out because the same table does provide figures for Aruba, Bonaire, Saba, St. Eustatius and, in some cases, St. Maarten. RIVM notes that vaccination data for the Caribbean part of the Kingdom are already less precise than in the European Netherlands, because the registration systems, except for Aruba, are not linked to the population registry. Immigration and emigration are therefore harder to track accurately.
The missing Curaçao figures mean policymakers, health professionals and the public do not have a clear picture from this report of whether vaccination coverage among children is sufficient to prevent outbreaks of diseases such as measles, polio, whooping cough and meningococcal disease.
RIVM emphasizes that monitoring vaccination coverage is important for public health policy, outbreak prevention and assessing whether countries are contributing sufficiently to global efforts to control diseases such as measles, rubella and polio.
The report does not explain the specific reason Curaçao's figures were unavailable.