The Evening Report - July 12
Denmark passes another vaccination milestone
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Denmark has passed another vaccination milestone, with 40.2% of the total population (2,349,443 people) now fully vaccinated. To date, 3,695,942 1st-dose vaccinations (63.2%) have been administered.
Yesterday, there were 56,688 total inoculations done.
Danske Bank Chief Analyst Mikael Olai Milhøj notes the five Danish health regions set a new weekly vaccination record last week with almost 515,000 inoculations. Among those, 277,000 began the vaccination process, while 238,000 had their second dose.
The vaccination campaign impact continues to be reflected in the number of new infections by age group over the last seven days. New infections for those 40 years old and older are either plummeting or have all but disappeared.
However, the 20 to 29 years of age group continues to be a problem.
Region Syddanmark says in its latest weekly vaccination update that it has received 127,090 vaccine doses this week. Again, most of them (101,790) were Pfizer/BioNTech doses, with the rest being Moderna.
The doses on hand will go to the priority groups on deck, which at this point is pretty much everyone. This week, invitations began going out to those 12 to 15 years old with those born in 2006 to 2008 and part of 2009 who have turned 12. The remainder of 2009 will be invited as they hit their 12th birthdays. Invitations will go to each parents e-Boks.
The Southern Denmark health region says it has “a lot of available vaccine times in the next four weeks, especially from week 29 onwards. It encourages people to keep checking vacciner.dk for new times as they pop up.
So far the region has administered 751,543 1st vaccination doses, which equals about 61% of the region’s population, while 484,938 people (39%) are now fully vaccinated.
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Denmark is reporting 848 COVID infections, the most of any day since June 9, and no new coronavirus deaths in the last day.
Yesterday, there were 216,593 total corona tests done, 77,932 PCR and 138,661 rapid, for a (PCR only) positivity percentage of 1.09%, the highest positivity percentage since January.
The positivity percentage by each of Denmark’s PCR testing centers continues to reflect tourists and a vacationing population, with the island of Samsø and Copenhagen airport having the top two highest positive test percentages. The rest of the list is scattered across the country, albeit the highest concentration remains in Metro Copenhagen.
COVID hospitalizations (37) have increased (+8) while the number of infected people in an ICU (9) and of those on a ventilator (7) are both unchanged for a second straight day.
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As infections rise and Denmark’s positivity percentage hits a high not seen in months, the Director of the Staten Serum Institut admits to being concerned.
Henrik Ullum spoke to DR today:
“It is a worrying increase, especially if you imagine that it will continue. I hope that there will not be a need for more restrictions, because we can also see now that because we have vaccinated so many, and because our vaccines work so well against serious illness, the hospital admissions are not rising as quickly as the infections.”
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Region Nordjylland is donating 100,000 dkk worth of COVID supplies, including masks, hand sanitizer, and protective equipment to other countries in need. There are nine pallets worth of protective equipment alone among the donations.
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Sweden won’t update its COVID numbers until Tuesday.
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The Swedish Public Health Agency has reinstated the requirement for anyone traveling into the country from outside the Nordic bubble to have a COVID test “on arrival.” The agency has mandated it must be a PCR test and the edict includes citizens returning from abroad. But people who are fully vaccinated, with the last dose administered at least three weeks before arrival, and anyone with a recent infection are exempt.
State Epidemiologist Anders Tegnell says the number of travel related infections in Sweden “has increased.”
“The Swedish Public Health Agency has received reports of several cases of COVID19 where people have been infected in connection with nightlife abroad in nightclubs, pubs and places where new contacts are established. This then increases the risk of the spread of infection and outbreaks in Sweden, where the domestic spread of COVID is now at a low level.”
The health agency is concerned about the spread of the Delta variant exacerbated by the lifting of most COVID restrictions noting the surge of infections in other European countries.
The new testing edict comes into force today and will last until at least August 31.
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Sweden is sticking to its plan and further easing COVID restrictions as of July 15. On Thursday, a square-meter-per-person requirement in shops, gyms, zoos, and amusement parks will be dropped. The roof for the number of any one group that wants to be seated together at a public event or gathering is doubled from four to eight. Caps on passengers for long-distance trains and buses is also lifted.
The Swedish Public Health Agency says people must still be cautious and stay home if they have any symptoms, avoid crowds and crowded places, work from home where possible, and get tested as needed. Businesses must also continue to take precautions and do everything possible to restrict the spread of the coronavirus, including ensuring people can maintain distance from one another.
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Norway has added 377 infections since Friday’s update and had no new coronavirus deaths.
COVID hospitalizations (26) inched downward (-1) ICU numbers (5) have dropped (-4) and of those the number on a ventilator (4) also declined (-2).
To date 55.89% of Norwegians have had one vaccine dose while 29.58% have had both.
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The Norwegian Institute of Public Health says 13 municipalities seem to have completed all 1st vaccinations and no longer need the number of doses on hand. The institute says they are working to determine exactly how many doses this frees up to redistribute them to other municipalities who are still working on getting everyone the jab.
Institute Director Camilla Stoltenberg:
“It is important that municipalities that do not need the vaccine doses they have been assigned inform about it. In this way, more people will receive the first vaccine dose earlier. The redistribution means that several thousand doses of coronary vaccines will be released in the coming weeks to other municipalities.”
All 13 Norwegian municipalities are in the Viken region, which was a main focus of a geographical targeting of vaccine doses. When Norway was battling its last infection wave, it began pouring more doses into areas with high infection rates at the expense of areas with lower corona numbers.
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Finland has registered 133 new infections since yesterday’s update. It updates fatality and hospitalization numbers on Wednesdays.
To date 3,484,723 1st-dose vaccinations (62.4% of the population) have been done while 1,359,101 people (24.4%) are now fully vaccinated.
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The Delta variant has been confirmed to make up the bulk of coronavirus infections brought into Finland from Russia. The Finnish National Institute of Health says of the sequenced positive test results the Delta variant accounts for more than 80%, making it the dominant strain in the country. The health institute says that 91% of all sequenced positive tests involving people returning from Russia are also the variant.
Finland is battling the fallout of a super-spreader event when thousands of Finnish football fans went to St. Petersburg, Russia, for a EURO2020 game and then came pouring back into the country, bringing the Delta variant with them.
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Three of the four Nordic nations were at the top of the list for countries who have best handled the COVID pandemic. Germany’s largest news organization, Der Spiegel, compiled the rankings using weighted COVID data from 154 country with a population over five-million. Its index is based on four criteria corona restrictions on society, excess mortality, first-dose vaccination coverage, and GDP performance compared to pre-pandemic projections.
Finland has one of the highest vaccination uptake in Europe, with very high first-dose coverage, although it lags behind in second doses administered. It has recorded 976 coronavirus fatalities, while Sweden, with double the population, has a death toll almost 15 times as high.
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I am sorry. That from Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte today as he admitted that COVID restrictions in the Netherlands had been lifted much too soon. The country has seen coronavirus infections absolutely explode in the last two weeks, with the Delta variant driving its infection curve up in a near-vertical line. Holland reported 8,441 new infections and one more virus death today.
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France is making COVID vaccinations mandatory for some health care workers. French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation in a televised speech today.
"For healthcare professionals, caregivers and others working with the vulnerable or vulnerable citizens, vaccination will be made mandatory.”
Macron says as of September regular checks will be done on health care workers to make sure that they are vaccinated. He also raised the idea of making vaccinations compulsory for all adults.
France is seeing a resurgence of COVID infections, recording over 4,000 infections in each of the last five days. Today, that streak was broken as 1,260 new infections were reported.
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Canada and Denmark are at the top among vaccination numbers by country last week. According to Our World in Data, Canada vaccinated 9% of its population last week, the most of any country in the world. Denmark came in 3rd, inoculating 7.4% of its population. In second place was Ireland, with 7.9% of its population getting a dose last week.
This is how a number of countries stack up for getting people both vaccine doses.
But while wealthier, and mostly western nations vaccinated at generally very high rates, it is important to note that for most of the rest of the world, that is far from the case.
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In a weekly press briefing held today the Director General of the World Health Organization Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus once again waved a warning flag, saying the pandemic is far from over.
Dr. Tedros also ripped wealthier nations for buying up vaccine doses, once again leaving have not countries without the doses they desperately need. He says the problem is now being compounded as first-world countries are buying up millions of doses for booster shots when most of the world is still struggling to even get first vaccine doses administered.
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Canada reported 253 new infections and suffered another eight deaths yesterday. Those numbers will change a little as provinces like B.C. who don’t report on weekends file updated numbers today
On the vaccination front so far 26,229,254 1st doses (68.89% of the population) have been administered while 16,517,984 people (43.39%) are now fully vaccinated.
In Ontario today there were 114 new infections and one more death.
Quebec reported 199 infections and another virus death.
In Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia has one new infection. New Brunswick has none. Newfoundland and Labrador has not reported.
Manitoba saw 31 new infections today and one more fatality.
There were 19 new infections and one more death in Saskatchewan yesterday.
Alberta registered 59 new infections since Friday’s update without recording any new deaths.
B.C has recorded 123 infections since Friday’s update with no new deaths.