The Evening Report - April 8th

An AstraZeneca decision looms in Denmark

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The Danish Medicines Agency is trying to clear up misconceptions around the rare side effects linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine. Tanja Lund Erichsen, Head of Pharmacovigilance, says it is not as simple as just referring to it as severe blood clotting. She says it is a combination of low platelets (blood that is not clotting as it should), internal bleeding, and blood clots in unusual places. 

As the European Medicines Agency reported yesterday, Erichsen says a possible explanation is an immune response sometimes seen when people are treated with the blood thinning drug heparin. 

She says what triggers the symptoms remains unclear. Erichsen notes the European Adverse Reactions Committee has instructed AstraZeneca to carry out more studies. Other efforts to find answers also continue among Danish health authorities, the EMA, and others. 

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Speaking of, we will find out the results of the AstraZeneca investigation by a panel of Danish experts next week. 

Denmark’s National Health Board Director General Søren Brostrøm says the conclusions by the European Medicines Agency yesterday validate Denmark’s decision to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. 

"EMA’s review proves that it was imperative to examine the possible correlation between the vaccine and the blood clots and confirms that we demonstrated due diligence in suspending the use of the vaccine in Denmark while the vaccine is undergoing further research analysis and studies.” 

Brostrøm says while there were two Danish cases with the array of rare side effects, one of them fatal, everyone else who has been vaccinated with AstraZeneca is now in the clear. 

“We can see that the risk of the severe side effects associated with the vaccination is expected to be highest within about 7-10 days, significantly reduced after 14 days, and no severe blood clotting events have been reported after 21 days. Therefore, we estimate that those Danes who have already been vaccinated with the vaccine from AstraZeneca no longer have to worry about getting these rare side effects.” 

One of the questions needing clarification next week will be whether the approximately 150,000 people in Denmark who have received a first AstraZeneca shot will continue on to get the second dose. 

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A fourth case of the U.K. variant with the E484K mutation has been confirmed in Denmark according to the latest update from the Staten Serum Institut. The E484K mutation is concerning because it helps the virus slip past the body’s defenses.
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Denmark is reporting 717 COVID infections and one more coronavirus death in the last 24 hours.

Yesterday there were 426,045 total corona tests done, 214,311 PCR and 211,734 rapid, for a (PCR only) positivity percentage of 0.33%.

COVID hospitalizations (237) are unchanged day to day while ICU numbers (37) have edged up (+3). The number of people on a ventilator (20) has inched down (-2).

On the vaccination front to date, 821,579 1st dose vaccinations (14.1% of the population) have been administered while 423,632 people (7.2%) are now fully vaccinated.

Yesterday 24,581 total vaccinations were administered.

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If you are 60 years old or older, live in the Southern Denmark Health Region, and meet certain requirements you can now sign up to be on the residual vaccines list. As of today, Region Syddanmark has lowered the age for waiting lists for any left over vaccine doses available at the end of each day. 

In order to get on the list you have to meet the age requirement, have received a vaccination invitation, and not yet received a first vaccination dose. It also helps to live near the vaccination centers in Aabenraa, Sønderborg, Esbjerg, Vejle, Kolding, Odense, or Svendborg as you must be able to get there within 30 minutes of getting the phone call.  Anyone wanting to be on the residual vaccine list has to sign up every day before 2pm. 

Each vaccination center has its own residual vaccination list. You can find them HERE.

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Sweden has added 7,822 infections and another 17 corona deaths since yesterday’s update.

To date 1,307,614 1st dose (16% of the population) and 549,052 2nd dose vaccinations (6.7%) have been administered.

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At least a thousand corona vaccine doses have been thrown away in Sweden due to being stored at temperatures either too warm or too cold according to newspaper Dagens Nyheter. The paper reports vaccine waste may be much higher but because many regions simply don’t keep records of the wasted doses there is no way to put a more precise number to it.

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The Swedish Public Health Agency has extended coronavirus restrictions on restaurants, stores, malls, and shopping centers until at least May 2nd. Restaurants must close at 8:30 pm but can still offer take out. The retail sector must ensure social distancing requirements with big stores capped at 500 customers.

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Finland has registered 426 new infections and four more virus deaths since yesterday’s update.

COVID hospitalizations (235) have tumbled (-15). Those in an ICU (42) also dropped (-3).

On the vaccination front to date, 1,028,848 1st dose vaccinations (18.5% of the population) have been administered while 91,805 people (1.6%) are now fully vaccinated.
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Some glimmers of hope in locked down Finland as the infection pressure eases. The Finnish Institute of Health (THL) says the COVID restrictions are clearly working although it cautions that while infections numbers are decreasing, there are still more than 3,000 new cases per week. The positivity percentage has decreased in Finland from over 3% in March to 2.6% currently. 

The Institute says the COVID incidence rate remains highest in the hospital districts of Helsinki and Uusimaa and Southwest Finland. Infection pressure is lowest in Southern Ostrobothnia, Northern Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, Western Ostrobothnia, and Lapland.

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Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin took to Twitter today to urge people to continue to abide by coronavirus restrictions. Marin says negotiations among the political parties continues on how to gradually ease the country out of a lockdown. She says if people continue to do the right thing then the better the chance restrictions can be lifted in time for a normal summer.

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Norway has added 405 infections and one more coronavirus death since yesterday’s update.

COVID hospitalizations (296) are down (-9), ICU numbers (91) also dipped (-2), but those on a ventilator (61) increased (+7).

14.45% of Norwegians now have one vaccination dose while 5.40% are fully vaccinated.

The Norwegian Public Health Institute says about 3% of the population may have had COVID. The agency analyzed almost 2,000 blood samples from 17 laboratories around the country for coronavirus antibodies to make the determination. 

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Germany’s Health Minister Jens Spahn says a new daily vaccination record was set yesterday with 656,000 vaccinations. He says this was accomplished in part due to allowing family doctors to administer the vaccine. 

To date in Germany, 13.8% of the population has had one dose and 5.7% has had two.

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Germany confirmed today it will enter into negotiations with Russia for shipments of its Sputnik V COVID vaccine. The vaccine is not approved for use in Europe as the underperforming E.U. vaccination effort continues to tear at European unity.

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Here is the latest global COVID vaccination effort snapshot from Our World in Data seeing how different countries compare so far. Note Canada is now outpacing the E.U. in vaccinations.

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In Canada COVID numbers continue to head upward with 7,148 new infections and 32 more corona deaths yesterday.

To date, 6,245,132 1st dose vaccinations (16.43% of the population) have been administered while 746,672 people are now fully vaccinated.

There has not been a lot of change on the variant front day to day according to the latest update from Public Health Canada. Numbers in the hot spot provinces nudged upward slightly.

The Ontario government has declared a COVID state of emergency, its 3rd, and issued a province wide stay at home order as of midnight tonight. It will remain in place for at least the next four weeks. 

• residents must stay home except for essential reasons like grocery shopping or going to pick up medication etc. 

• Non-essential retail stores are limited to curbside pick up only. 

• Big box stores are restricted to selling essential items only for anyone shopping in person. 

As part of the response to try and drive down the variant driven infection wave, Ontario will prioritize vaccinations in provincial hot spots and include teachers among priority vaccination groups.

The province saw its highest number of new infections since January 17th per Health Minister Christine Elliott on Twitter, “Ontario is reporting 3,295 cases of #COVID19 and over 63,800 tests completed. Locally, there are 933 new cases in Toronto, 649 in Peel, 386 in York Region, 165 in Durham and 160 in Ottawa. As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 2,834,784 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.” There were also 19 more deaths. Hospitalizations in Ontario are alarming there are a record high number of people in an ICU, 525, and on a ventilator, 331.

In Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick registered 14 infections. Nova Scotia two. Newfoundland and Labrador had just one.

Quebec is reporting 1,609 infections and nine more virus deaths today.

Manitoba registered 109 new infections and one more death yesterday.

There were 189 new infections and two more deaths in Saskatchewan yesterday.  

Yesterday, Alberta reported the highest number of new infections this year with 1,351 while adding one more virus death. 535 of the new infections are ‘ variants of concern’ and they now make up 43.2% of active cases. This comes after the province tightened coronavirus restrictions.

B.C. reported 997 new infections yesterday along with two more virus deaths. The number of people in an ICU is now at 105, another record high.

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Elsewhere in the world India is now one of the hardest hit countries on earth as it sees its infection curve rocket upward setting new daily infection records.

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The COVID nightmare also continues in Brazil with another 90,973 new infections and 3,733 more corona deaths.