The Evening Report - Aug 31
Denmark targets young people with massive vaccination messaging campaign
🇩🇰
Denmark’s Health Minister Magnus Heunicke says the COVID contact number (reinfection rate or R0) remains at 0.9 for the 2nd straight week. Heunicke says thanks to the robust vaccination uptake “the epidemic continues to appear to be declining.”
He adds that Denmark needs 194,000 people to reach its goal of having 90% of the eligible population, those 12 years old and older, vaccinated. Currently, he notes, vaccination coverage in Denmark for those 12 and older is at 86.13% today.
-
The National Health Board is revealing more information about plans for a robust flu shot campaign this fall to try and prevent a twindemic. Health officials are very concerned about a brutal influenza season after almost two years without a flu season.
Deputy Director Helene Probst:
"We are worried that the flu season we are entering will be tough, because we had very little flu in the previous two years and therefore we want to protect as many people as possible.”
One of the changes announced yesterday will be offering influenza vaccines to young children aged two to six years old.
“Vaccination against influenza for children is given as a nasal spray, and they will be able to be vaccinated either at their own doctor, at certain pharmacies and at private vaccination clinics that offer influenza vaccination. It makes it easy for parents to fit a time for vaccination into a busy day.”
The health board says while most children don’t suffer serious cases of the flu, a small number can suffer serious respiratory complications.
Children will have to get two. Doses spaces four weeks apart. Flu shots will be offered from October 1 to January 15. Children, pregnant women, people with immune deficiency, their family members, healthcare staff, seniors over 65, and anyone with chronic disease should all get a flu shot.
-
The Danish National Board of Health is launching a huge campaign aimed at getting the vaccination message out to young people. With those aged 20 to 29 years old lagging behind all other age groups in getting a COVID vaccination, the health board is now trying every trick to get the message out. It has launched an information campaign about getting vaccinated on screens in schools across the country, in transit stations, on metros, in buses, and malls, as well as coffee shops, and on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and even Tinder.
Sundhedsstyrelsen Director Søren Brostrøm:
“When you talk to them, it turns out that most people want to be vaccinated; they may not have had time to book an appointment or haven’t yet figured out how to get to the vaccination site. That is why I am really happy about the enormous efforts that municipalities and regions are making to get as many people as possible involved. We must remember that young people can also have severe illnesses with fever, fatigue, and lose their sense of taste and smell. Some will be affected by long-COVID several months after recovery.”
All five of Denmark’s health regions will have pop-up vaccination sites at just about every school, college, and university in the country over the next few weeks. Some are even holding information forums where students can ask health experts questions directly.
-
On the vaccination front to date, enough 1st vaccine doses have been administered to cover 75.2% of the total population and 71.6% are fully vaccinated.
Yesterday, there were 27,724 total inoculations done and of those just 3,626 were 1st doses.
Region Hovedstaden has begun scaling down its vaccination infrastructure as it transitions efforts from large, fixed sites to smaller, more mobile pop-up operations. Yesterday, the vaccination center at DGI Byen closed down. The region says “several others will follow in the near future.”
Health Committee Chair Christoffer Buster Reinhardt says this is about dealing with dropping demand and shifting focus to targeting areas with the greatest need.
“We must be where the citizens are, whether it is in a schoolyard or at a residents' house. With the targeted and local vaccination efforts, we are doing just that. Hopefully the last ones who have not yet been vaccinated will want to make use of this possibility.”
There are about 250,000 people in Denmark’s capital region who have yet to begin the vaccination process.
By October the region will have just four brick and mortar vaccination centers located in Copenhagen, Ballerup, Hillerød, and on Bornholm. The downsizing will also see weekly vaccination capacity begin to be reduced to 60,000 doses by September 1 and then down to just 3,000 doses a week by October.
-
Denmark is reporting 843 COVID infections and four more coronavirus deaths in the last day.
Yesterday there were 142,085 total corona tests done, 64,180 PCR and 77,905 rapid, for a (PCR only) positivity percentage of 1.31%.
-
COVID hospitalizations (147) continue to creep upward (+5) while the number of infected in an ICU (21) inched down (-1) and of those the number of people on a ventilator (13) was unchanged.
-
As of September 1 Region Nordjylland will begin scaling back its testing infrastructure. As of tomorrow (Wednesday) six testing centers will reduce operating hours by one day each week. And the testing site in Dronninglund will be shut down entirely.
The testing centers reducing operations as of Sept. 1 are:
Skagen: closes for testing on Friday
Sæby: closes for testing on Thursday
Hirtshals: closes for testing on Tuesday
Fjerritslev: closes for testing on Saturday
Brønderslev: closed for testing on Saturday
Frøslev: closes for testing on Wednesday
The region is also closing six rapid testing sites in Hanstholm, Snedsted, Frøstrup/Østerild, Mariager, Nørager, and Terndrup
As well, the test centers in Aars and Hobro will change locations. Both will only be open three days a week.
Despite these closures and reduced operating hours, Region Nordjylland says it can quickly add more testing capacity if needed.
-
With a majority of people now either partially or fully vaccinated, Region Syddanmark is seeing demand for its vaccination hotline drop. With fewer calls coming in, the health authority has decided to scale back hotline operations. As of tomorrow (September 1) the hotline will be operational from 8am to 3pm during the week and 9am to 1pm on weekends. You can contact the Region of Southern Denmark's corona hotline at 9944 0717 and then dial 1.
🇸🇪
Sweden has added 3,400 infections and seven more corona deaths since its Friday update. Its infection curve continues to curve upwards.
As for COVID vaccinations:
Adult population 18 years old and older - 6,705,024 1st doses (81.9%) administered and 5,685,722 people (69.4%) fully vaccinated.
16-17 year olds - 189,264 1st doses (53.8%) done and 17,788 teens (5.1%) have had both doses.
-
The Swedish Public Health Agency says it is still seeing a “high proportion” of travel-related coronavirus infections. It is now extending a recommendation for COVID testing for all travelers, including citizens, flying into Sweden from any country outside the Nordics. The agency wants people to get a PCR test within five days of arriving in Sweden, but ideally they should get tested the same day they arrive, even if they have no symptoms.
Travelers should also isolate for one week after arrival. Anyone under the age of six-years-old, anyone who is fully vaccinated, or who has a recent previous corona infection, are exempt from the testing requirement.
The testing recommendation has been extended until at least October 31.
-
Infections continue to rise in Region Skåne in southern Sweden. The region says the lions share of infections (72%) are among those under the age of 40, with spiking COVID numbers among children and young people.
Infection Control Doctor Eva Melander:
“We see a sharp increase in the ages 5-19 years and there are many children of school age who have symptoms of respiratory infection that might be COVID19. That is why it is important to always stay at home if you feel sick and test yourself for symptoms.”
The region says every single person with COVID in an ICU in southern Sweden right now is unvaccinated and every single one has had the opportunity to get their shots.
Region Health Director Pia Lundbom:
“This clearly shows how important it is for everyone to get vaccinated. It is the safest way to protect yourself against getting seriously ill from COVID and needing hospital care. I would therefore like to appeal to those who have not yet been vaccinated to do so as soon as possible. Primarily for their own sake, but also out of consideration for fellow human beings and healthcare staff.”
Region Skåne is also ending free COVID testing for cross-border commuters. It says commuters who want to get tested can either pay for it at any private care provider or get a free one in Denmark.
-
Region Stockholm is still seeing increasing numbers of infections and it says hospitalizations have “increased sharply.”
Acting Director of Health and Medical Care Johan Bratt:
“We now have 99 people admitted with COVID to our hospitals. This infection wave is hunting for those who are unvaccinated. We know that the absolute majority of those who are hospitalized are people who have not been vaccinated at all or who have only received the first dose. Therefore, it is still extremely important to vaccinate as many as possible as soon as possible.”
Last week, Sweden’s capital region saw 2,147 coronavirus cases, up from the 1,921 reported in the week before.
🇳🇴
Norway saw 2,218 infections and no new deaths in the last day as a 4th COVID wave smashes into the country.
Coronavirus hospitalizations (89) are rising (+10) the number of people in an ICU (22) edged upward (+2) and of those the number on a ventilator (11) are down (-1).
So far, 71.52% of Norwegians have had one vaccine dose and 56.44% have had both.
🇫🇮
Finland has registered 617 new infections since yesterday’s update.
To date, 4,015,823 1st doses (71.8% of the population) have been administered while 2,771,981 people (49.7%) are fully vaccinated.
-
Finland is extending its wastewater COVID monitoring system to six more cities Kuopio, Vaasa, Pori, Joensuu, Kouvola, and Hämeenlinna. This expands the COVID early warning system by doing coronavirus tests on wastewater samples already in place in Helsinki, Espoo, Turku, Tampere, Oulu, and Jyväskylä.
The Finnish Institute for Health says it has detected COVID activity in every wastewater plant in its latest round of sampling. But infection rates were lower in all but two areas, Jyväskylä and Oulu, which both saw increases.
The health institute will also publicly report its wastewater sampling results every Friday.
🇩🇪
As Germany’s vaccination effort is reduced to a crawl, Health Minister Jens Spahn says while vaccination coverage is good “it's not enough for autumn and winter.” While the ‘seasonal effect’ works for us now with warmer weather and being outside where COVID has a harder time spreading, when it gets colder, more people will be indoors where the virus thrives.
So far in Germany, 54.2 million people (65.1%) have had one dose while 50.3 million (60.5%) have had both. Spahn says 85.2% of those over the age of 60, 66.9% of people 18 to 59 years old, and 31.4% of 12 to 17 year olds have all been vaccinated at least once.
🇪🇺
The European Union Commission says vaccination coverage among the adult population in the EU hit 70% today. While EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed the milestone, she also cautioned more needs to be done. She says more people in Europe need to get vaccinated. And its not just Europe, as von der Leyen emphasized, the EU must do its part in helping global vaccination efforts.
“We will only end this pandemic if we defeat it in every corner of the globe.”
🦠💉
While the risk of vaccine side effects have received a lot of attention, a new study from Israel has found the risk of side effects that come with a COVID infection are far higher. As one example, people who have COVID have four times the chance of getting myocarditis, an inflammation of part of the heart. This is a very rare side effect of vaccination that has received a lot of media attention.
Professor of Vaccine Design at the University of Copenhagen Camilla Foged spoke with Videnskab.dk:
"If you are not currently vaccinated, the risk of being infected with coronavirus is quite high, you will most likely be infected at some point. This study shows that one should not refrain from being vaccinated because one is afraid of myocarditis. The risk of getting it is much higher after you have been infected with corona than after you have received the vaccine.”
The study followed almost two-million people, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, focusing on 25 specific side effects. It found people who were unvaccinated had a much higher chance of suffering from a number of side effects than those who had both doses.
They included:
heart fibrillation (cardiac arrhythmias) - 166 additional cases per 100,000
kidney damage - 125 additional cases per 100,000
pericarditis - 11 additional cases per 100,000
blood clots in the lungs (pulmonary embolism) - 62 additional cases per 100,000
blood clots in the leg (deep vein thrombosis) - 43 additional cases per 100,000
blood clots in the heart (myocardial infarction) - 14 additional cases per 100,000.
Among the vaccinated, the study found just three side effects from vaccination, and in each case the rates were substantially lower than those seen in the unvaccinated group.
The drawbacks to the study are that it only followed people for a 42-day period, so questions about longer-term impacts have been left unanswered. The other caveat is that the study was done in a period where the Delta variant was not yet dominant. Potentially, it may have had its own impact.
🇨🇦
Canada has reported 2,735 new COVID infections and another 17 coronavirus deaths yesterday.
The Canadian vaccination campaign has so far administered 27,956,672 1st doses (73.43% of the total population) while 25,395,886 people (66.70%) are now fully vaccinated.
In Ontario today, there were 525 new COVID cases, and of those 434 were among people who were unvaccinated or who had just a single dose. There are 336 people in hospital, 303 of which are not vaccinated or have had just one shot. Another 158 are in an ICU and all but ten are unvaccinated or have just one dose.
Quebec reported 425 new coronavirus cases and one more death.
In Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick has three.
Manitoba saw 34 new infections and no new fatalities today.
There were 274 infections and two more deaths in Saskatchewan today.
Alberta logged 3,056 infections and another seven deaths over the last three days. There are 401 people in hospital; of the 303 not in an ICU, 79.6% are unvaccinated or have just one dose. Of the 98 in an ICU, the number rises to 94.2%.
B.C. recorded 1,835 corona infections and another seven deaths over the weekend as the daily rolling average and hospitalizations continued to climb.