The Evening Report - June 11th
Vaccine uptake looks to be high among Danish teens
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In the latest update on vaccine side effects from the Danish Medicines Agency, there are no new reports of pericarditis and myocarditis (swelling of different parts of the heart) after Pfizer/BioNTech inoculations. It is still investigating one case of each that may be linked to the vaccine but a causal relationship has yet to be proven. Investigations are also continuing into five cases of post vaccination blood clotting. Three of the cases may be due to the needle itself, there are rare causes where even proper technique can result in blood clots. However, two of the five cases of concern involve blood clotting in the lungs and not the arm.
As for the Moderna vaccine, the Danish Medicines Agency says it has received two reports of myocarditis but has ruled out any link to the vaccine in one of the cases. In the other it says “it cannot be ruled out that the vaccine was a contributing cause.” An investigation to determine a causal relationship continues. There have also been 18 reports of post vaccination blood clotting but the agency has ruled out any link to the vaccine in all eighteen cases.
Danish Medicines Agency Director Tanja Lund Erichsen says they have assessed 44 reported side effects since the Johnson & Johnson vaccine began being administered in the alternate scheme. She says in all cases they were the symptoms you might expect like a sore arm, fatigue, fever, or a headache.
Erichsen also says they have received three new reports of peritonitis (inflammation of the stomach muscle) and in one of the cases they can’t rule out a vaccine as a contributing factor. An investigation is ongoing and a causal link has not yet been determined. She has not specified which vaccine.
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Denmark is reporting 418 infections and one coronavirus death in the last day.
Yesterday there were 567,732 total corona tests done, 112,349 PCR and 455,383 rapid, for a positivity percentage of 0.37%.
COVID hospitalizations (111) continue to drop (-9) while the number of infected people in an ICU (23) edged up (+1). Of those, the number on a ventilator (16) is unchanged.
On the vaccination front to date, 2,609,733 1st doses (44.6% of the population) have been administered while 1,457,123 people (24.9%) are now fully vaccinated.
The Danish National Health Board says vaccination uptake remains high even among the latest age groups invited to begin the vaccination process. The health board says uptake among 16 to 19 year olds is very promising. It says 10% of that age group have already had a first vaccination dose while 48% have booked a time to get inoculated.
Director Søren Brostrøm:
“It is fantastic that we have now come so far and have started inviting the very young. It makes me happy to see that vaccination uptake among teens is so high, and that one in ten of the 16-19-year-old age group has already started their vaccination process. When you see how many people have already booked time for vaccination, a picture emerges that the young people follow our recommendations and to a large extent want to be vaccinated.”
Danish health authorities had been concerned about vaccination uptake among the younger population. There has been a concerted effort to reach that group with information and messaging especially on social media. Parents have also been included in vaccination invitations sent out to teenagers encouraging them to help their kids book appointments.
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Sweden has added 727 infections and another nine corona deaths since yesterday’s update.
To date, 4,084,788 1st dose (49.9% of the population) and 2,066,677 2nd vaccine doses (25.2%) have been administered.
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Finland has registered 47 new infections and no new virus deaths since yesterday’s update.
To date, 2,744,650 1st dose (49.2% of the population) and 676,825 2nd vaccine doses (12.2%) have been administered.
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Finland is seeing a declining epidemic situation in its latest weekly assessment. Last week the number of new infections was 200 fewer than the week before. While new cases are higher in areas of Southern Finland the Finnish Health Institute notes infections are slowing in densely populated areas, which is positive news.
The National health agency says the coronavirus incidence rate, cases per 100,000 citizens, has almost been cut in half in the last month. It was 28 per 100,000 people in the two week period of May 24 to June 6 down from 49 the two weeks prior.
The institute says people already in quarantine accounted for 25% of all new infections last week. It notes the number of infections from abroad has grown from 7.5% to 16% week to week. But further spread has largely been prevented with quarantine mandates. Travel related infections account for just 1.5% of all cases.
The number of hospitalizations “have been continually falling within the last month” and the health institute anticipates this trend to continue.
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Finland’s Prime Minister has had her first vaccination dose taking to
Twitter to let everyone know while firing a shot at Denmark with tomorrow’s clash between the two countries at EURO 2020.
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Norway has added 85 infections and had no new corona deaths since yesterday’s update.
COVID hospitalizations (47) are down (-10) ICU numbers (16) also down (-3) ventilator numbers (11) down too (-2).
To date, 35.79% of Norwegians have had one dose and 24.58% have had both.
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Norway’s latest weekly epidemic situational report shows a steadily declining infection situation. New infections continue to drop, down another 19% last week. The positivity percentage is also steadily declining. It was calculated at 1.6% last week, a decrease from 1.8% the week prior and 2.3% the week prior to that. There has also been a “clear decrease” in virus deaths with six fewer deaths each of the last nine weeks. Just three fatalities were reported last week.
The Norwegian Institute for Public Health says corona cases dropped in every region in the country save two. It says infections remained steady in Rogaland while in Oslo new cases increased by 51% week over week.
COVID hospitalizations also continue to slowly ease as do ICU numbers. That said, the health agency noted a “slight increase” among those 18 to 44 years old and people 65 to 74 years of age.
On the variant front, the NIPH says the Alpha strain (B.1.1.7) continues to be the most dominant, coming back in 93% of samples sequenced. The Delta variant (B.1.617.2) is showing up in 0.7% of samples with most of the infections detected in Oslo and Viken. The agency also notes a new variant has been identified in Norway, the C.36 strain “with many concerning mutations in the spike protein.” The health agency says it is paying “particular attention” to this mutation.
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As of today Norway is allowing fully vaccinated travelers to avoid mandatory testing and quarantine upon arrival. Anyone who has had, and can document, a previous COVID infection within the last six months is also exempt from quarantine. In both cases, those who are fully vaccinated or have had a previous infection, do not need a negative COVID test to travel to Norway.
One vaccination dose gets you some freedom of movement within Norway but it doesn’t get you out of mandatory quarantine upon arrival. You can get out of quarantine with a negative test on day three. The same rule applies for children under 18 years of age.
However, the Norwegian Institute for Public Health adds “this only applies if they can document this through a Norwegian corona certificate.” So there may be some challenges there.
While the change comes into force today the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs still advises against all travel to all other countries “that is not strictly necessary.”
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Yesterday Germany administered over one-million vaccinations again. Health Minister Jens Spahn says 39.5 million people in Germany (47.5% of the population) have had a first dose while 24.8%, or one in every four people, are now fully vaccinated.
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The European Medicines Agency has approved a manufacturing site for Moderna’s COVID vaccine. The production plant is located in Monts, France and will be run by Recipharm. The EMA has also approved two other sites responsible for batch control and testing. The EMA says this should help Moderna boost its vaccine production by one to two million doses for the EU each month.
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The European Union’s vaccine passport system is up and running weeks before it was scheduled to come online. Formerly called the GreenPass the EU COVID certificate is supposed to facilitate safe travel within Europe this summer.
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The UK’s COVID contact rate (R0) has jumped today to between 1.2 to 1.4 as the Delts variant sends infections back upward.
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In its latest threat assessment of the Delta variant, Public Health England says the strain is “predominant and all analyses find that it has a very substantial growth advantage.” According to the agency’s most recent data, released today, the variant accounts for 74% of sequenced positive test results and 96% of sequenced and genotyped cases. The PHE says the Delta variant is growing faster than B.1.1.7, the variant (Alpha) that sparked significant infection waves around the globe, and is in fact replacing it across the U.K. It continues to conclude, “It is highly likely that Delta is more transmissible than Alpha.”
Currently a majority of all COVID outbreaks in the UK are attributed to B.1.617.2.
The threat assessment says early data from England and Scotland continues to show the Delta variant poses an increased risk of hospitalization over even the Alpha variant. The agency notes case fatality rates (over 28 days) remains low at 0.1% but it also cautions that mortality is a lagging indicator and a majority of the Delta cases are still in the 28 day follow up period.
On the crucial question of vaccine efficacy, Public Health England says protection against the Delta variant after one dose is 15% to 20% lower. After two doses is higher but adds “that there is a reduction for Delta compared to Alpha.” The agency also emphasizes “There is uncertainty around the magnitude of the change in vaccine effectiveness after 2 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.”
Public Health England says topping its priority list is determining vaccine efficacy against hospitalization and death from the Delta variant.
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At the G7, a promise has been made to provide one billion doses of COVID vaccine to developing countries. Canada and the UK will each chip in 100-million doses. The US will cover 500 million and the EU will donate the difference.
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Canada has reported 1,479 new infections while suffering another 30 coronavirus deaths.
So far the Canadian vaccination effort has administered 24,003,246 1st dose inoculations (63.16% of the population) while 3,712,553 people (9.77%) are now fully vaccinated.
In Ontario today Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted “Ontario is reporting 574 cases of #COVID19 and over 28,900 tests completed. Locally, there are 109 new cases in Toronto, 84 in Peel, 79 in Waterloo, 51 in Porcupine and 31 in Hamilton. As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 10,827,420 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, including 199,951 doses administered yesterday.”
Quebec reported 180 infections and one more death.
In Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia recorded 15 infections. Newfoundland and Labrador had three. New Brunswick also had three.
Manitoba saw 251 infections and another six deaths yesterday.
There were 77 infections and one more death in Saskatchewan yesterday.
Alberta recorded 178 new infections, its lowest daily infection number since last October, and six more corona deaths. The province is moving into phase two of its reopening.
B.C. reported 153 infections and four more virus fatalities. The province will see a phase two of its reopening next week.