PhD defence Céline Johanna Angelique van Bilsen

Keywords: COVID-19, Cross-border research, Vaccination, Social networks

"Mapping COVID-19 Impact: Cross-border Mobility, Social Networks, Vaccination, and Post-COVID Condition"

This thesis examined the impact of COVID-19 using online questionnaires. A Euregional study in the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion (the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany) showed that more than 80% of residents regularly crossed the border for social contacts or everyday activities. During the pandemic, this decreased strongly, and nearly half perceived the border restrictions as negative. The intention to receive a booster vaccine also differed among the three countries: highest in Germany and lowest in the Netherlands.

Among adults in South Limburg, associations were investigated between social network characteristics and vaccination behavior. Characteristics such as the size and diversity of the network were associated with this.

Within the PRIME post-COVID study, workforce participation was compared among participants with long COVID, those who had recovered, and people never-long COVID. Participants with long COVID more frequently reported workforce exit, reduced work productivity, and difficulty making ends meet. Recovery was also found to be limited: depending on the severity of the illness, only 11% to 37% recovered within nine months in 2021–2022.

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