COVID updates from Scandinavia to Canada

Infections in Europe are on the rise

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Denmark’s Statsminister Mette Frederiksen has raised the idea COVID vaccinations could become as regular a part of our lives as the flu shot is now.

Frederiksen, meeting with her E.U. colleagues in a video conference today, said Europe must secure more vaccine production facilities. She says Europe is too dependent on Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca for vaccine supply with far fewer doses than is needed currently.

However, Frederiksen says it isn’t just about now but future years with the possibility Europe will need a steady reliable vaccine supply for many years to come.

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Denmark is reporting 603 COVID infections and six coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours. This is the first time daily infections have exceeded 600 since January 28th.

Yesterday Denmark conducted 148,538 corona tests across the country, not including rapid tests from the private providers. That equals a positivity percentage of 0.41%.

COVID hospitalizations (235) are down (-3) ICU numbers (45) are also down (-2) ventilator numbers (24) dropped as well (-4).

On the vaccination front to date 326,158 1st dose (6.2% of population) and 180,439 2nd dose (3.1% of population) vaccinations have been administered.

The Southern Denmark Health Region received 19,040 vaccine doses this week. They are split between Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. While there is no shipment from AstraZeneca this week the region has doses from last week to draw from. The vaccinations will go to vulnerable seniors as well as front line workers at high risk in the health, seniors care, and social sectors.

The Health Authority says it will also begin vaccinating those in the fifth target group, people who are for various reasons at a higher risk for COVID. They estimate there are about 33,000 people in that group.

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Sweden has added 4,995 infections and suffered another five corona deaths since yesterday’s update.

To date 454,996 1st doses (5.5% of population) and 235,275 2nd vaccination doses (2.9% of population) have been administered.

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There was good news for Swedish seniors in care homes today. Sweden’s Public Health Agency has said that seniors who are fully vaccinated can visit in person with asymptomatic family members and hug their grandchildren again.

About 83% of care home residents have received one vaccine dose and 70% are fully vaccinated. The easing of the rules allowing visitors kicks in two weeks after the second vaccination shot. Protections remain in place for those who aren’t yet fully vaccinated.

The number of COVID cases in Swedish care homes has fallen drastically from almost a thousand before the vaccination campaign began to less than 40 as of last week.

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Sweden is going to get at least 3.6 million more doses of the Moderna vaccine after opting into to a new E.U. vaccine bulk buy agreement. This doubles Sweden’s contracted allotment of the Moderna vaccine.

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Finland has registered 565 infections and three corona deaths.

COVID hospitalizations (158) are unchanged while those in ICU (36) inched up (+1).

To date 319,359 1st dose and 77,223 2nd dose vaccinations have been administered.

Finland will go into a three week lockdown beginning March 8th as infections rise. Prime Minister Sanna Marin says the U.K. variant has given them no option as it spreads. Restaurants will be closed, secondary school students sent home, and an assembly ban for groups of more than six.

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Norway has added 463 infections with no new virus deaths since yesterday’s update.

COVID hospitalizations (92) have dipped (-3) Ventilator numbers (19) also inched down (-1)

To date 308,145 1st dose (5.74%) and 125,150 (2.33%) 2nd dose vaccinations have been administered.

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In the U.K. there were 9,938 new infections and 442 corona deaths yesterday.

The rate of positive tests, fatalities, and hospitalizations continues to trend down.

1st dose vaccinations now exceed 18-million while 669,105 people are fully vaccinated.

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The COVID situation in the Czech Republic is going from bad to worse as infection numbers surged upward yesterday with 15,815, while losing another 133 lives to the coronavirus.

The Czech health ministry says ICU bed capacity in the country will be exhausted within two weeks.

Elsewhere across Europe infections have surged in numbers not seen for weeks or months.

Slovakia saw its highest number of new infections since Jan 13th.

Poland had the most COVID infections since Jan 7th.

France posted the most infections since Nov 14th, 2020.

Germany also saw a higher than expected increase.

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Yesterday Canada reported 2,863 new infections and 46 corona deaths.

To date 1,172,988 1st dose (3.09% of pop) and 479,294 2nd vaccine doses have been administered.

Canada has ordered 10 million vaccine doses from Johnson & Johnson with an option for up to 28 million more, pending approval from Health Canada.

Today Ontario recorded 1,138 new infections and 23 corona deaths. Hospitalizations stand at 687 with 283 people in an ICU. As of yesterday, 621,960 vaccination doses have been administered. The number of infections increased in the province for the first time in six weeks and later today officials will reveal the latest COVID modeling.

In Quebec today, 858 infections and 16 corona deaths were reported. 633 people are in hospital including 122 in an ICU.

Manitoba registered 70 new infections and one additional death. The province is in the process of setting up mass vaccinations sites, announcing its fourth location yesterday.

In B.C. there were 456 infections and two deaths reported yesterday. 237 people are in hospital with 64 in ICU. To date, 230,875 vaccine doses have been administered, 62,608 of which are second doses.

In Saskatchewan there were 56 new infections and three deaths.

Alberta logged 430 infections and 13 corona deaths.

In Atlantic Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador reported 10 infections, New Brunswick had one, and Nova Scotia three.

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AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot addressed the E.U. today after his company failed to deliver the promised number of initial vaccine doses. Soriot told E.U. officials the company will do "everything we can to deliver 40 million doses in the first quarter of 2021.”

Moderna announced today it has begun phase one clinical trials on a vaccine booster designed to boost immunity against the South Africa COVID variant. It has shipped the modified vaccine to the National Institute of Health for human trials. The South African variant has raised concerns because it is more resistant to current vaccines.

The company is also looking at other avenues to address corona variants. Other than its variant-specific booster, it is testing a combination of the booster and its current vaccine, as well as the effects of administering a third dose of its vaccine.

Moderna is also looking at increasing the amount of vaccine doses in each vial. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received a proposal from the company to potentially allow up to 15 doses to be drawn per vial. The company says, if approved, this will allow it to deliver more vaccines more quickly.

Two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine have been found to be just as effective against the coronavirus in the real world as they were in trials. The study found two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine cut symptomatic COVID cases by 94% across all age groups. It was almost as effective against severe illnesses as well. Today, the New England Journal of Medicine published findings of a study in Israel involving 1.2 million people which showed a single dose of the vaccine was 57% effective in protecting against asymptomatic infections within two weeks of injection.

Pfizer is also studying whether a third dose of its vaccine would crank up enough antibodies to deal with existing variants. It is also looking at tweaking its vaccine formula.