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The Danish National Health Board is wrapping up Denmark’s mass COVID vaccination program. The agency says given “the very large protective immunity in the population” and signs that the winter infection wave is receding it is planning to wind down the vaccination effort. The health board says while it will follow epidemic developments closely that people can expect an announcement by the end of the month laying out exactly how and when the vaccination program will come to an end.
As part of winding down the vaccination effort the national health agency has decided there is no need for a second round of booster shots for the general public, although some vulnerable groups like those who are immunocompromised, are getting a fourth dose.
Chief Physician Bolette Søborg says this means there will also be no fourth round of vaccinations for seniors in nursing homes, at least not yet.
“The high infection spread has also resulted in more infections in nursing homes and among the very oldest. Fortunately, we also see that only a few in these groups get severe COVID infections, and this indicates continued good protection from the 3rd dose. As we also see the epidemic recede, and because the season will soon change, we do not find a need for nursing home residents and people over the age of 85 to be offered the 4th dose this season.”
But, Søborg cautions, the pandemic is not over yet, and the coronavirus may have more nasty surprises up its sleeve.
“We will of course follow the epidemic closely, and we are ready to change our decision if, contrary to expectations, there is a fourth infection wave this spring or new worrying variants emerge.”
The health authority has also ruled out the need for booster doses for children under the age of 18. Since the vaccination program expanded to include children 5 to 11 years old in November of last year, about half have been vaccinated with two doses.
“The effect is smaller than we had anticipated because we got a new virus variant along the way, but our new assessment shows that we have, after all, increased the infection-preventing population immunity to Omicron by about 2 percentage points at an important time in the epidemic.”
The health board says it is also seeing very few vaccinated children who come down with a serious side effect of a COVID infection called MIS-C, or multisystem inflammatory syndrome.
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Region Nordjylland is already preparing to wind down its vaccination program as it announces the number of vaccination sites will be reduced in the coming weeks.
At the same time as of today, all vaccination sites in the region will be open to vaccinate people without the need to make an appointment.
Health Planning Chief Consultant Anders Cinicola:
“It has gone really well getting the North Jutland population vaccinated. Many people have been vaccinated at our own vaccination centers, at private centers, general practitioners, and pharmacies in the last few months. But, now the centers are getting quiet, as relatively few people have yet to be vaccinated, and the number of vaccination invitations diminishes.”
Nearly 500,000 people in North Jutland have at least one vaccine dose and about 376,000 have received a booster shot, which equates to 89% of all of those eligible.
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The Danish vaccination effort continues to sputter, with just 147 1st vaccine doses administered since Wednesday of last week.
To date, 82.5% of the total population have one dose, 80.9% have two, and 61.4% have a booster shot.
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Denmark added 127,880 COVID infections over the weekend. It reported 45,207 infections on Friday, 44,350 on Saturday, and another 38,323 on Sunday.
Over the same three days, another 91 lives were lost to the coronavirus, which pushes the number of total to-date pandemic deaths in Denmark over 4,000, to 4,068 lives lost so far.
The Omicron-driven infection wave has been steadily pushing COVID deaths upward in Denmark, and numbers are nearing fatality peaks seen a year ago during the Alpha variant wave.
There were 184,974 total corona tests taken on Saturday, of which 132,949 were PCR tests equaling a positivity percentage of 28.82%. Over the last seven days, the Staten Serum Institut has the positivity percentage calculated at 38.6%.
Region Nordjylland now leads the five Danish regions with a COVID incidence rate of 7,178 per 100,000 residents. It is followed by Region Midtjylland (6,726), Region Syddanmark (6,104), Region Sjælland (4,781), and lastly Region Hovedstaden (4,046)
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The COVID incidence rate across Danish municipalities continues to soar, with just one of Denmark’s 98 kommunes having an incidence rate per 100,000 residents of less than 2,000. 16 municipalities, all in Jutland, have all shot over the 7,000 mark led by Ringkøbing-Skjern, with an incidence rate of 7,589.
If there is a sliver of positive news, it is that COVID incidence rates are trending down in almost half (46) of Denmark’s 98 municipalities.
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An “extraordinary effort” will be made to clear a glut of backlogged surgeries and procedures in Denmark built up during the pandemic and in last year’s nurses strike. The Danish government and regions have reached a deal designed to clear the backlog of surgeries within the next ten months. As part of the deal, the Danish government will “secure the necessary resources” to both tackle the backlog and maintain existing hospital operations.
Health Minister Magnus Heunicke announced the deal at a press conference on Friday:
“Behind a delayed operation is a person whose quality of life depends on treatment. Whether the treatment is time critical or not. With our agreement, we set a common ambition to settle the treatment backlog before the end of 2022. We will follow the settlement very closely with the Danish Regions. There is still increased pressure on our healthcare system with COVID admissions, and this is a major task for the employees, who at the same time continue to handle the many other tasks in the healthcare system. Therefore, the government has given a guarantee to the regions that there will be the necessary funds to reach these goals.”
The funds, estimated to be around a billion Danish kroner, will cover overtime pay to deal with extra surgeries over and above existing operations. There will also be a collaboration with private hospitals to take advantage of capacity in the private system. Although the deal specifies that using private capacity will take “into account that the staffing of public hospitals will not be eroded.”
Danish Regions President Stephanie Lose:
“We in the regions will do everything we can to deal quickly with the many people who have had to wait patiently during the pandemic. But it will certainly not be an easy task. In many places, hospitals are understaffed due to years of pandemic pressures, fatigue after nurses strike, and a large infection spread among employees. Therefore, it is also crucial for me and for the regions that employees can buy in to the plan and be onboard with what needs to happen, including in the conditions for helping to reduce waiting lists.”
A task force has been struck to monitor progress on eliminating the backlog. It will meet every month. As well, the health minister, regional chairs, and Danish Regions will also be in constant communication, which will include a quarterly progress report.
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Even as the regions and the Danish government announce a deal to wipe out a major backlog of postponed surgeries, at least one region is still adding more to the pile. Region Midtjylland says a flood of COVID patients being admitted to hospital and infection spread among staff have led to staffing shortages across many departments. As a result, it says that hospitals must again postpone some procedures and surgeries “for the sake of patient safety and the staff’s working environment.” All critical treatments and operations are unaffected.
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COVID hospitalizations (1,356) dropped on Saturday (-54) but then bounced back up (+40) on Sunday. The number of severely infected people in intensive care (25) continues to steadily drop (-5) and of those the number on a ventilator (8) also edged downward (-1). Admissions to a psychiatric ward (313) crept up (+3) day over day.
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Good news and bad news on the pandemic front for Danish hospitals.
The good news according to the Danish National Board of Health, is that while overall infection cases have soared the number of ICU admissions continues to head in the opposite direction. The health board says the other positive development is that coronavirus cases resulting in a lower respiratory tract infection have also declined. Such infections can result in ICU admissions and possibly being put on a ventilator. The agency says currently there are about 200-250 lower respiratory corona infection cases. It is expecting those numbers to remain stable for a week or two, then drop further.
Unit Head Agnethe Vale Nielsen:
“What we are seeing right now is that the number of COVID patients is increasing. This is a reflection of the fact that we still have a high level of societal infection in Denmark. At the same time, there are fewer severe infections, which we can see by the fact that the number of patients in intensive care is still low and stable. This is because the Omicron variant causes a lower respiratory tract infection to a lesser extent, and the Danish vaccination effort has worked.”
The bad news is, that while ICU numbers drop and overall hospital stays are generally short, the sheer number of COVID patients continues to seriously strain hospital resources. Every infection case requires infection control measures, with each patient being put into isolation, and staff having to don protective equipment. Infections are also rampant among healthcare staff resulting in serious staffing challenges. The overall crush is single-handedly blocking most of the regions from standing down pandemic emergency operations and returning hospitals to normal.
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Over the last seven days there were 6,318 infants two years old and younger who tested positive. Of those, 201 were hospitalized, which is by far the most of any age group 19 years old and younger. It was also an increase from the 163 who were hospitalized the week before.
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As of this week, a number of Danish regions including Region Hovedstaden (Metro Copenhagen) have ended their agreements with private providers running COVID rapid testing sites. Those sites are now closed and more will soon follow. Denmark is winding down its rapid testing infrastructure with all rapid testing sites in the country to be closed by March 6.
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Syphilis rates have increased in Denmark during the last few years despite the COVID pandemic and restrictions on travel and reduced social contacts. The Staten Serum Institut says syphilis cases declined every year from 2015 to 2018 before beginning to climb again in 2019 and through the pandemic. The SSI says there were 218 cases of syphilis reported in 2018; then it increased to 365 in 2019, and 446 in 2020 “and the rising trend has continued into 2021.”
Section Leader Susan Cowan says most of the increases in syphilis cases have been among gay men. The community accounts for over 70% of syphilis cases in both 2019 and 2020.
“Normally, there are more people who become infected with syphilis when traveling abroad, but they could not in 2020 due to travel restrictions. However, the fewer travel-related cases have not caused the total number of reported cases to fall, on the contrary. So despite travel restrictions and restrictions here at home, people have still been infected in Denmark.”
It is not just syphilis; the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea has also increased in frequency in the last few years. But the SSI notes HIV cases are declining.
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45 Chinese citizens have been stuck in limbo at Copenhagen Airport since Tuesday of last week. According to Sydsvenskan, the group was among 54 passengers who tested positive on their way to Shanghai from London with a layover in Copenhagen. The travelers had to be tested in Copenhagen before boarding their Shanghai flight according to Chinese entry rules. The newspaper reports nine travelers chose to fly back to London while the rest stayed at Kastrup airport. The problem was that none of the Chinese travelers had a visa to enter the Schengen area and were thus stuck in passport control pending the next flight out to Shanghai, which is scheduled for Tuesday. The Chinese embassy has supplied the group with food and folding beds while they wait.
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Beginning February 15, Scandinavian airlines SAS and Norwegian are dropping the requirement to wear a mask onboard flights to Nordic destinations in Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark.
Norwegian Air Shuttle’s Communications Advisor Silje Glorvigen spoke to E24:
“This primarily applies to flights between Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, as well as domestic flights. But if some passengers want it, they can, of course, wear a mask. Everyone should feel safe.”
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Sweden doesn’t update its COVID statistics on the weekends and it will provide its first pandemic snapshot of the week on Tuesday.
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The number of COVID patients in hospitals in Sweden’s capital region remains high but has eased slightly from the numbers of a week ago. Region Stockholm says there were 563 hospitalizations as of Sunday afternoon, a slight increase from Saturday’s 552, but we’ll below numbers that were in excess of 600 a week prior. Of those in hospital 28 are in intensive care.
The region has 113 staffed empty care beds, a number down from Saturday’s 197.
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In Southern Sweden, the pressure on hospitals continues with a shade under 300 COVID hospitalizations in Region Skåne as of last update.
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In Norway, COVID hospitalizations (329) have increased (+35) while the number of severely infected people in an ICU (42) inched upward (+1) and of those the number on a ventilator (25) dropped a little (-2).
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health is emphasizing hospitalizations as a more accurate barometer of the pandemic situation due to infection numbers likely being underreported.
Norway has not had any new pandemic deaths over the weekend.
So far, 80.2% of Norwegians aged 12 years old and older have one vaccine dose, 74.4% have two doses, and 52.4% have a booster shot.
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Over the weekend, Norway removed almost all remaining COVID restrictions. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in making the announcement called it “the day we have all been waiting for.”
Among the restrictions being abolished are mask mandates and the social distancing requirement.
Støre says while it is prudent to reopen Norway now, he emphasizes the pandemic is. It over with the current Omicron wave still impacting hospitals and “other important societal functions.”
As of this past Saturday, all face mask and social distancing mandates have been lifted. Isolation requirements have been abolished and replaced with general advice to stay home for four days when sick or having a confirmed positive test. School children should stay home if they are sick but are free to go to school as long as they have had 24 hours without having a fever. Children no longer have to have a self-test even if they have COVID symptoms. Last but not least, all remaining entry requirements for travelers to register their visit and have a negative COVID test before arriving have been removed.
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Norway is allowing people who have a COVID infection to be permitted inside a hospital to attend the birth of their child or visit seriously ill relatives. The Norwegian Ministry of Health has put some conditions on such visits stipulating that an infected person can only visit a hospital under those two circumstances, in an infection-controlled manner, and with the prior agreement of the hospital department where they will be.
Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol:
“It is important to have your loved ones around you in special situations such as birth, or serious illness. Therefore, we have made arrangements for a partner who has been diagnosed with COVID to be present during the birth, and for relatives to visit the seriously ill and dying even if they are infected. This also applies even in cases where the patient has been diagnosed with a coronavirus infection.”
The health ministry and health authorities believe hospitals have a good handle on infection control measures to mitigate any risk. But add that there may be a “very small” infection increase or risk of infection among healthcare staff in allowing someone with COVID limited visitation rights.
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The chances of long-term side effects from COVID vaccines are very low, according to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. The agency says with the vaccination program now over a year old and more than 11 million doses administered in Norway, and over 10 billion doses globally, there is no sign yet of anything concerning despite intensive monitoring.
The health agency specifically mentions vaccine skeptics referencing some kind of mystery long-term vaccine effects they say will appear. It says since 1952, when childhood vaccination programs began in Norway and all vaccinations administered to the present day, only one vaccine has ever been linked to a side effect occurring more than six weeks after inoculation. That was a vaccine called Pandemrix that was used during the swine flu epidemic of 2009/10.
NIPH Senior Advisor Gro Evensen says the health agency carefully watches for any indication of vaccine side-effects, with any symptoms reported being called “signals.”
“There is extensive international collaboration to capture possible new side effects and follow-up on signals that we receive. The signals must be examined further, before one can assess whether there is a possible causal connection with vaccination or not. The examination must be thorough. Compilation of data from national health registries in several Nordic countries has been important in the study of rare suspected side effects after coronary vaccination. We collaborate on investigations of signals to get a larger, common number base. In this way, we increase the possibility of detecting any changes in the incidence of rare side effects.”
He points to AstraZeneca as an example, where data from Norway and Denmark linked the vaccine to rare instances of blood clotting, low platelets, and unusual bleeding. Subsequently, the vaccine was removed from the state vaccination program by both countries. Another example is the finding of rare instances of swelling of two parts of the heart (myocarditis and pericarditis) for those under 30 due to Moderna vaccinations. Now the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is recommended for young people. But in neither case were those long-term side effects, with side effects happening fairly immediately following vaccination.
But there has yet to be any sign of any mystery long-term side effects from COVID vaccines.
“For the vaccines we use in Norway, we consider the benefit of protection against serious coronavirus infection to be much greater than the risk of serious vaccine side effects. It will be very unusual and unexpected if new side effects appear that we have not yet seen signs of after 11 million doses have now been given in Norway.”
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Finland doesn’t update COVID statistics on the weekends. It will table three days worth of infection data a little later today.
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Finland will ease COVID restrictions on restaurants as of today. February 14 is ‘Friends Day’ in Finland and friends will be able to celebrate with bars and restaurants allowed to remain open until midnight and serve alcohol until 11pm. According to YLE there will be some capacity limits that will linger. Bars can only operate at half capacity while restaurants can be three-quarters full.
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As of Sunday, almost half (48.4%) of Finland’s total population had two vaccine doses and a booster. Three-quarters (75%) have two vaccine doses, while 79.3% have at least one dose.
Pfizer/BioNTech seems to be the heavy favorite in Finland. It has been used for nearly 80% of all vaccinations.
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As of February 15, Finland will no longer require travelers arriving from outside the European Union to have a negative COVID test before they arrive in the country. But, it will still require proof of vaccination until at least March 13. So travelers heading to Finland from outside the European Union need a valid COVID certificate showing they are either fully vaccinated or have recovered from a recent infection.
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Italy has eased some of its strict COVID restrictions. Nightlife is reopened with people allowed to head to the disco or dance-club for a night out, but a coronapas is still required to go into a club. A coronapas is also required for places like museums or to eat in a restaurant. Masks are no longer required to be worn outside unless in large crowded public gatherings. Mask use is also still mandated indoors and on public transport. Italy is still under a COVID state of emergency, which is due to expire on March 31.
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The Omicron-driven infection wave rolling across the European Union seems to be easing. After six straight weeks of rising infection numbers, they have moderated slightly in the first week of February, according to the latest assessment from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
The ECDC says infection numbers continue to be concentrated among people under the age of 50. However, the agency says numbers that were increasing among those 50 and older have now stabilized. For the first time this year, the health agency is forecasting COVID numbers to “slightly decrease over the next two weeks.” But it also notes pandemic deaths are expected to rise.
Overall, the COVID incidence rate across the EU and the greater European Economic Area was 3,509 per 100,000 people in week 5, a slight decrease from the week before, and the first time in six weeks numbers have dropped. The 14 day pandemic death rate per million population edged upward, going from 51.0 to 51.2 week over week.
Omicron continues to reign in Europe, accounting for 95.4% of all sequenced positive test results, while the Delta variant continues to fade, making up 3.5% of cases. The Omicron variant is now dominant, making up 50% or more of all cases in the 22 EU countries the ECDC determines to have “adequate sequencing volumes.”
On the hospitalization front, the ECDC report says of 27 European countries reporting data on hospital and intensive care admissions, 17 reported seeing increasing numbers in one or both categories, which is the same as the week prior.
Looking at the individual European countries, the pandemic situation is rated as high or very high concern by the ECDC in 26 nations. Eight countries, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Romania, and Slovenia, are rated as being very high COVID concern. 18 countries including Finland, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Ireland, are a high concern. Four countries, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, and Sweden, are assessed as being a moderate concern.
Across Europe, the cumulative vaccination uptake for two vaccine doses was 70.7% for the total population and 46.9% for those having two doses and a booster.
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The UK Health Security Agency has tabled four possible scenarios for what the pandemic might have in store for us in the months to come. The four scenarios range from best to worst case.
In the best case scenario, more COVID variants emerge, but they aren’t any worse than what we have seen already. It anticipates in this scenario there will be some minor seasonal or regional outbreaks likely in the fall and winter, with existing vaccines and treatments remaining highly effective. COVID continues to keep influenza rates way down.
In the optimistic scenario, infection waves are cyclical, driven by new variants and impact those with low or no immunity the hardest. Infection waves will be more severe, perhaps in line with what we are seeing from the current Omicron wave. Severe infections and death are concentrated among the unvaccinated, elderly, and vulnerable populations. Another round of vaccinations may be required and COVID restrictions would have to be reintroduced.
In the pessimistic scenario, the emergence of new more potent variants that are both more infectious and better able to evade immunity drives Delta variant level infection waves in the fall and winter. Antiviral treatments are less effective. In response, more vaccinations may be needed and infection levels are severe enough tougher COVID restrictions are required including shutting down schools. Influenza makes a return creating a one-two punch with coronavirus putting hospitals under serious pressure.
In the worst case scenario, global vaccination coverage remains lacking and COVID circulates in animal populations, spitting out a number of very challenging variants. Some will have significant immune escape. This will create a harder hitting wave or waves causing severe infections and death across more of the population and not just the old, vulnerable, and unvaccinated. There will also be increased long term impacts following infection. Vaccines need to be updated to target new variants and new mass vaccination campaigns launched. Societal conflict leads to far fewer people taking precautions. Significant COVID restrictions will be required.
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Canada could change pandemic entry measures beginning this week. CTV News is reporting that the federal government will eliminate the entry requirement for a negative PCR for all travelers, including those who are fully vaccinated. Currently, travelers arriving in Canada have to have a negative PCR test in hand no more than 72 hours old. The requirement could be lifted at the end of the month, according to CTV.
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos has hinted that more changes to COVID rules at the border could be announced as early as this week.
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The Public Health Agency of Canada says the country is in a “transition phase” of the pandemic. The agency is urging people to get vaccinated and take personal precautions to ease continued strains on the healthcare system.
PHAC numbers show the 7-day average in Canada remains above 11,000 new infections every day. However, it adds, there is some good news with weekly declines in infection numbers reported across the country. Keeping in mind Canada’s lackluster, and in some cases overwhelmed, testing systems mean daily infection numbers are very underreported.
The public health agency says while cases of severe infections are still on the rise in some parts of the country, hopeful signs are starting to be seen in other areas. Week to week, the agency says there have been, on average, 1,400 fewer hospitalizations each day. However, the 7-day average is still above 8,700 coronavirus patients daily, including over 1,000 in intensive care. Canada also lost about 130 lives every day for the last week to the pandemic.
PHAC says the transition means continuing measures to battle COVID infection spread while working on longer term “sustainable management” of the coronavirus. It says while restrictions are eased and life returns to near-normal planning continues for the months to come including how to tackle any developments the pandemic has, including the possibility of a new variant(s).
“For now, during this transition phase, it is particularly important to relieve the pressure on our hospitals, by closing vaccine coverage gaps and maintaining core personal protective practices. In particular, millions of eligible Canadians could reduce their risk of ending up in hospital with severe COVID disease by getting up-to-date with vaccinations.”