Jaap van Dissel retired: ‘Next pandemic could be very different’ | Domestic

It is no longer necessary, but he still does it: when Van Dissel enters, he does not shake hands, but gives him a punch. According to him, “to maintain some level of attention”.

Four years ago, at the start of the corona crisis, he received Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s hand after a press conference. Shortly before it had been advised to give a boxing from now on. The fragment was repeated many times.

That moment seemed like a mistake, but was that really the case?

Van Dissel, smiling: “I’ll leave that to the archives for now. You’ll hear that in fifty years.”

“Let me put it this way: I have a niece living in America and she came on the line because she had finished the fragment CNN seen. If you could make one statement to make something clear, that would be it. If that hadn’t happened, we probably would have been much less interested in it.”

“But it was just a spontaneous reaction. I certainly had to laugh about it myself.”

There was quite a bit of pressure on your shoulders. You were one of the faces of the corona crisis.

“Of course, the first time you enter a press conference is exciting. And although you are the figurehead, there are all kinds of people behind you who support you. Within the RIVM and the Outbreak Management Team (OMT). Also because you Backed by science, you are in a pretty strong position.”

Was the corona crisis the highlight of your career?

“Yes, that’s not difficult. If I didn’t find that interesting as an infectious disease specialist, I would have chosen the wrong career.”

“It was a very intensive period. And it is of course also special to see things that you advise converted into policy. And that happened almost every week. That was special.”

At the same time, as a figurehead you also had to deal with threats.

“The first few times you receive really nasty letters with all kinds of things in them, you are of course very affected. Those threats also have consequences for what you can and cannot do. It limits you.”

Did those letters arrive at your home or at the RIVM?

“We have had both. At home it is certainly intense. Sometimes you know that they have come by. Videos have also been made that made it clear that they were very close to my house. That is very annoying.”

You had to deal with security and therefore your freedom of movement was restricted.

“Of course I was allowed to do everything, but that was only possible with all kinds of measures. As a result, the spontaneity of it was gone. The fact that you cannot cycle around without someone else having to follow behind with a moped or bicycle is bizarre.”

In addition to threats, you also faced accusations of corruption. Without correct evidence, it was claimed that you received 750,000 euros from the Open Netherlands Foundation. That would have been funneled to Aruba.

“That was so absurd to me that you almost only made humor about it. Like: if I had had that money in the Antilles, I wouldn’t be here now.”

Who were you making those kinds of jokes to?

Van Dissel’s spokesperson, laughing loudly: “To me! Then he said: ‘Did you think I would do this job if I had so much money?'”

Van Dissel: “What I think is an underlying problem with this is that it is a business model for social media. The more intense the accusation, the more people click. I would have loved to sue those social media companies. But I was advised against it, because I had no chance would be.”

“The fact that people are so stoked, and the enthusiasm with which some political parties embrace this in order to gain fame again, I find really bizarre and, frankly, idiotic.”

Do you think that the Netherlands is ready for the next pandemic due to the experiences gained?

“The problem is that the next pandemic could be very different from the last. But we have set up a number of tools that we think are important for any outbreak. Sewage surveillance, for example. I am proud that we have set that up and that it turns out to work so well.”

You said goodbye at the RIVM on Thursday. What will you do now that you are retired?

“I will be supervising a number of PhD students for a few more years. I also find reading historical books very interesting. And stargazing has been a hobby of mine since my youth. I can now spend more time on that.”

How should I visualize that? Jaap van Dissel peering at the sky through a telescope in the backyard at night?

“I have a fairly unobstructed view at the back of the garden. When stargazing, it is important that the air is not too polluted with light.”

“Unfortunately, the Netherlands is quite polluted. You can hardly see the Milky Way in the Netherlands anymore. That is actually a shame. Maybe I will take action against light pollution. There are a number of international organizations that are very active in this.”

“I carry the telescopes outside, but those things weigh quite a bit. And I’m getting older, so maybe building a small observatory would be something. I now have time to think about all that.”