The number of people in the Netherlands declared partially or fully unfit for work due to long Covid has risen sharply in recent years. According to figures from the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV), more than 12,000 people have been granted a WIA disability benefit after being ill for more than two years. That figure stood at just 3,000 two years ago.
Patient organizations warn that the real number is much higher. PostCovid NL estimates that 90,000 people in the Netherlands suffer from severe long Covid symptoms. Many of them are struggling to return to work but do not qualify for disability benefits.
Suzanne van de Nes fell ill in July 2021, shortly after her daughter attended a "Dancing with Janssen" weekend, an event for young people who had received the Janssen Covid-19 vaccine. Van de Nes was severely ill for months, and it took years before she could return to work.
“My husband and I ran a practice helping people with muscle tension issues. The lockdowns cost us a lot of money, and because I never fully recovered, we had to close our business in March 2023,” she said.
Her condition improved gradually, allowing her to take up volunteer work and begin a career coaching program. Eventually, she secured a job as a social worker, working 24 hours a week. “It went well until late October, when I got sick again with Covid-like symptoms,” Van de Nes said. She is now working 15 to 18 hours per week as she reintegrates into the workforce.
Initially, doctors treated long Covid like burnout or chronic stress, advising patients to push their limits. “But we quickly realized that recovery worsened with that approach,” said Charlotte de Bruin, an occupational physician and internist-nephrologist at Arbo Unie in Nijmegen.
