The Evening Report - July 15
Summer air travel roars back to life in Denmark
While I am on summer holidays for the next few weeks Informeret will publish just twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We will return to normal in early August.
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After being grounded by COVID summer travel is taking off again in Denmark. Copenhagen airport was very busy this week. Staff said they went from staring at an empty airport with not much to do to barely being able to keep up almost from one day to the next.
(Shane Woodford/Picture taken in Copenhagen Airport on July 14,2021)
Lars Thykier, CEO of the Danish Travel Agency Association, tells DR the phones are ringing off the hook. He says it isn’t just to book tickets, as agents are fielding a flood of calls asking about COVID rules while flying and restrictions in the country, they are going, too.
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The Danish National Health Board says invitations to book a vaccination appointment have gone out to everyone 12 to 15 years old in Denmark this week. The agency estimated that around 240,000 adolescents will be invited to begin the vaccination process. Invitations will continue to go out throughout the year for those who are currently 11 but will turn 12 on their individual birthdays.
This comes on the heels of an information effort seeking to better inform parents why their children need to get the vaccine.
Unit Manager Bolette Søborg:
"We now have a more contagious virus variant, and we therefore need immunity in the population, not least when we go into the autumn in a few months. By offering vaccination to children and young people between the ages of 12 and 15, we build that immunity, which can help us maintain control of the epidemic and protect those who are at particular risk.”
Vaccination invitations for the adolescents will be sent to their parents e-Boks, Denmark’s secure digital post system. The children will be vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, currently the only one in Europe approved for use on children as young as 12.
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Region Midtjylland took to social media to remind people that children under the age of 15 need their parent or guardian to come with them when they get vaccinated.
“Children under the age of 15 cannot give their own consent to vaccination. Therefore, a parent or guardian must consent when the child is to be vaccinated.”
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The impacts and prevalence of long-COVID among young people in Denmark is the focus of a new Danish study beginning in the coming weeks. Researchers say because far fewer young people and children get seriously sick from COVID and fewer yet end up in the hospital, the problem may not be getting the attention it needs.
Cardiology Professor Selina Kikkenborg Berg, who has a special focus on clinical nursing at Rigshospitalet, told TV2, long-COVID can have major consequences for the well-being of young people.
“It can be very limiting for a child's life if you have difficulty breathing and can not participate in sports as you usually do. It can be difficult to participate in the social community if you can not concentrate, or if you feel sick, and lethargic for a long time.”
Berg says the whole family is impacted when a child struggles with long-COVID.
A recent Norwegian study found that among those between the ages of 16 and 30, about half continued to experience coronavirus symptoms six months after recovering. Among them fatigue, loss of sense and smell, difficulty breathing, and difficulty concentrating. This falls roughly in line with similar studies from Italy. While British studies found long-COVID plagued about 10% to 15% of young people up to four weeks after recovery. A Swedish study found five children suffering long-COVID a year later.
A questionnaire will be sent out to about 200,000 children in Denmark under the age of 18 in the coming weeks. It will include children who have had COVID and those who have not.
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On the variant front Denmark has added 348 new Delta variant infections in the last week. The Staten Serum Institut says the variant now accounts for more than 60% of all sequenced positive test results.
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Denmark is reporting 1,141 COVID infections and one more coronavirus death in the last day.
There were 1,202 infections yesterday so the infection curve is rising.
With 81,285 PCR tests and 136,426 rapid COVID tests yesterday its (PCR only) positivity percentage is 1.4%.
There are now 14 Danish kommunes with COVID incidence rates above 100 per 100,000 residents. Of those three municipalities have incidence rates above 200.
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COVID hospitalizations (51) are unchanged since yesterday while the number of infected in an ICU (11) has inched down (-1) and of those the number on a ventilator (9) is also unchanged.
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On the vaccination front to date, 3,815,196 1st dose vaccinations (65.2% of the population) while 2,498,017 people (42.7%) are now fully vaccinated.
Yesterday there were 87,724 total inoculations done.
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The five Danish health regions are reporting there are lots of free times to book a vaccination appointment. Changes have also been made to make it easier than ever to get the jab. The Danish National Health Board says people can now book an appointment in any vaccination center in any region. This is to make sure people can continue to be vaccinated, even if they live in one region but are on summer holidays in another.
The National health authority says Denmark’s vaccination campaign is entering the “crucial last phase” to push vaccination rates as high as possible as we get closer to the finish line.
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The Danish Medicines Agency says a link between a rare but serious suite of side effects and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is “probable.” The agency issued its conclusion after receiving its first report investigating connections between severe blood clots, bleeding, and low platelet counts and the one-shot vaccine. The suite of side effects has since been dubbed VITT.
Pharmacovigilance Unit Manager Line Michan:
“This is the first report of a possible case of the unusual disease picture VITT after vaccination with the COVID vaccine from Johnson & Johnson in the optional scheme. This is a known, albeit extremely rare, serious side effect, which is why we have dealt with the case and the available documentation very quickly. It is the agency's assessment that a connection between the rare disease picture and the vaccine is probable.”
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was removed from Denmark’s state vaccination program. It is still available through an optional scheme run by a private provider, Practio. To date, 46,793 people have received Johnson & Johnson vaccine through the optional scheme.
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Sweden has added 347 infections and one more corona death since yesterday’s update. Yesterday Sverige reported 367 new infections.
The Swedish Public Health Agency is STILL warning about a reporting lag.
To date 5,819,904 1st dose (71.1% of the population) and 3,716,260 2nd vaccine doses (45.4%) have been administered.
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Sweden’s capital region has hit two-million total vaccinations administered. Region Stockholm says to date 66% of its residents have a first vaccine dose and 41% have had both. Sweden has currently opened vaccinations only to those 18 and older.
Chief Physician Elda Sparrelid:
“I can not stress enough how important it is that as many as possible are vaccinated and that everyone also takes the second dose only then do you have full protection and this especially applies to the Delta variant which now accounts for about 60% of all infection cases in Stockholm.”
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The Swedish Public Health Agency says vaccinations for adolescents will begin in the second week of August. The offer will go out to everyone in Sweden between the ages of 16 to 18 years old and to some children as young as 12 who are considered at high COVID risk.
The Swedish regions have sent out invitations to everyone in the country 18 years old and older, opening the door to soon begin inviting this new, younger cohort.
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Norway has added 339 infections and had no new corona deaths since Tuesday.
While Norway continues to see a “stable” epidemic situation, the number of Delta variant cases continues to mount. Delta infections have increased from 50 confirmed cases in week 21 to 792 as of last week. In the last four weeks alone, the variant has increased from 1% of all sequenced positive test results to 18%.
COVID hospitalizations (18) are down (-2) ICU numbers (8) are unchanged while ventilator numbers (4) edged up (+1).
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The Norwegian Public Health Institute has found that vaccines offer very high protection against COVID. Out of 1,598,820 people in Norway who have received both doses, only 1 in 3,000 (0.03%) have tested positive. Of those, people have only had mild symptoms and suffered the virus for a much shorter period of time. Norway designates someone as fully vaccinated one week after their second dose.
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To date 58.46% of Norwegians have had one vaccine dose and 30.31% have had both.
The Norwegian Public Institute for Health says vaccine uptake in Norway is “sky high.” Among those 18 years old and older, 72% now have at least one vaccine dose.
NIPH Director Camilla Stoltenberg:
“We have a fantastic support for coronary vaccination in Norway. It gives hope of achieving good herd protection in society.”
The NIPH says that vaccine rates are somewhat higher among women than men. The agency says that might be due to more women working in the health care sector than men.
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In June, Norwegian health officials prioritized vaccinations among teachers, schools staff, and anyone working in a daycare. To date the agency says some 185,000 people in the education sector have been vaccinated, which equals more than 65% coverage for the group.
Camilla Stoltenberg:
“The coverage in this occupational group reflects the vaccine coverage elsewhere in the country, where Oslo and Viken are now around 80% of those who are 18 years or older. Areas with high infection pressure generally have high vaccination coverage.”
Norway made vaccinations a priority for teachers and school employees in order to as prepared as possible for when the new school year arrives.
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Finland has registered 324 infections since yesterday’s update.
Yesterday in its major Wednesday update it recorded two virus deaths in the previous week.
To date 3,520,843 1st dose (63.1% of population) and 1,431,082 2nd vaccine doses (25.7%) have been administered.
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Infection numbers in Finland have tripled since about mid-June. The Delta variant is now dominant in the country. Finnish Health officials says new coronavirus cases are “spreading quickly” among young adults thanks to largely to nightlife activities in bars and parties. The 20-to 29-year-old age group now accounts for a third of all new infections.
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The EU COVID digital certificate came online in Finland as of yesterday (Wednesday). This falls in line with recent changes at the Finnish border allowing movement in and out of Finland using the vaccine passport. The digital certificate is supposed to allow free movement across Europe based on a person’s vaccination status, previous infection, or recent negative test result.
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“The pandemic is not over until it is over for everyone in the world.” German Health Minister Jens Spahn announcing today Germany is giving €260 million to the World Health Organization for the production and administration of global corona tests, treatment, and vaccines. Spahn says Germany is also going to donate “a baseline” of 30-million vaccine doses to the global COVAX program, which helps supply developing countries with desperately needed COVID vaccines. He says Germany will likely be able to donate many more doses to the COVAX effort.
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Yesterday, enough vaccinations were administered in Germany to cover more than 1% of the country’s population. So far, 49.25 million 1st vaccine doses (59.2% of the population) have been administered while 37.1 million people (44.6%) are fully vaccinated.
Among 12 to 17 year olds in Germany who have just begun the vaccination process 660,000 doses have been done so far covering some 15% of the age group.
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In Europe, the jury is still out on the need for a 3rd COVID vaccine booster shot. The European Medicines Agency says in its press conference today that “It is too early to confirm if and when a booster dose will be needed.” The Agency says there is simply not enough data to decide one way or the other. It is reviewing data on available studies as they become available.
The EMA also says it will table a decision “at the end of next week” whether or not to approve the use of the Moderna mRNA vaccine for use on children as young as 12. Currently in the EU, only the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has been authorized for use among adolescents.
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Canada reported 393 new infections and another eight coronavirus deaths yesterday.
The Canadian vaccination campaign has so far administered 26,377,107 1st dose vaccinations (69.28% of the total population) while 17,783,624 people (46.71%) are now fully vaccinated.
In Ontario today there were 143 new infections and ten more virus deaths.
Quebec reported 65 infection and added another fatality.
In Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick had seven new infections all of which were travel related. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador each reported no new domestic infections. However Newfoundland and Labrador also said they are dealing with 23 confirmed cases onboard a ship anchored in Conception Bay.
Manitoba saw 53 infections and no new deaths yesterday.
There were 18 infections in Saskatchewan yesterday.
Alberta registered 46 new infections and another corona death yesterday.
B.C. logged 41 new infections and another day with no new virus deaths.