The Evening Report - June 8th
Denmark passes a major vaccination milestone
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On the vaccination campaign in Denmark, to date 2,444,633 1st vaccination doses (41.8% of the total population) have been administered while 1,390,377 people (23.8%) are now fully vaccinated.
Yesterday there were 74,624 total vaccinations done (one of them was me 😛)
Denmark’s Health Minister Magnus Heunicke says for the Danish population of those 16 years old, the youngest who can be vaccinated, and up 50.6% have now had at least one vaccine dose. Heunicke hails this as a major vaccination milestone.
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In the optional vaccination scheme offering the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines, there were 2,858 inoculations. To date, the alternate vaccination effort has administered 14,019 vaccinations.
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The Danish Agency for Patient Safety is encouraging everyone in Hørsholm Kommune to get tested. The agency has told TV2 a “special variant” has been identified in the municipality. So far, they aren’t identifying exactly which corona variant has popped up there. Several school classes have been sent home and the agency is stepping up infection detection in the area.
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Speaking to DR Denmark’s Health Minister Magnus Heunicke says mask requirements may soon be eased.
“Our goal is that we reach the summer as much as possible without mask requirements. And it will probably mean leaning a little more on other things like the coronapas. Of course we have to use face masks when being vaccinating, and there are also some places where you are in close proximity with many strangers. But in general, it is our goal that by the summer the mask requirements won’t be as large and widespread to the degree that we have today.”
The Director of the Danish National Health Board Søren Brostrøm also backs the lifting of mask requirements telling TV2.
“We have widespread and growing vaccination coverage, low infection rates, and low hospitalization rates. That makes it relevant to discuss whether we can ease up on more restrictions, the use of face masks for example, and rely on the coronapas instead.”
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On Wednesday Denmark’s political parties will begin another round of negotiations at the parliament over the next phase of reopening, which is scheduled for June 11.
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The Staten Serum Institut says “power outages and network challenges” are causing some major technical problems impacting the coronapas. The agency says recent testing results may not be showing up in the coronapas due to data collection problems. It says the problem is being worked on and they hope to have a fix figured out by today and if not tomorrow at the latest but the SSI warns it could take some time to iron everything out. Test results are available straight from private providers or using the ‘Min Læge’ app.
Denmark’s Health Minister Magnus Heunicke says this also means they cannot calculate the coronavirus contact number (reinfection rate or R0) today. Heunicke says he hopes to be able to update it tomorrow instead. The contact number has been treading water at 1.1 for five straight weeks.
The problems collecting test results data into the system is, for a second day, impacting the daily COVID numbers report. So numbers are again artificially low in Denmark. One assumes there will be a major ‘corrections’ report coming within the next few days.
Denmark is reporting 377 COVID infections and no new coronavirus deaths in a partial picture of the last day.
Yesterday there were at least 353,747 corona tests done, 80,101 PCR and 273,646 rapid.
COVID hospitalizations (124) have declined (-13) while the number of infected in an ICU (27) and those on a ventilator (19) are both unchanged.
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There have been 7,947 occupational injury claims filed, all in relation to the coronavirus, according to a press release from Arbejdsmarkedets Erhvervssikring. The claims cover workers who have contracted the virus to those who claim allergic reactions from protective equipment. Most of the claims come from people who work in hospitals and the majority of claimants are women.
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Sweden is reporting 2,671 infections and 23 more corona deaths since Friday. These numbers continue to be oddly low. The Swedish Public Health Agency says to continue to take them with “caution” due ongoing reporting issues. It is still sorting things out after taking its infectious disease database offline due to possible hacking attempts.
To date 3,969,401 1st dose (48.5% of the population) and 1,869,568 2nd vaccine doses (22.8%) have been administered.
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Region Stockholm has opened three new vaccination centers in Vallentuna, Hallstavik, and Farsta pushing the total number of vaccination facilities in the Swedish capital region to 30.
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Region Uppsala has now opened up vaccinations for everyone who is 40 years old and older. But the region’s Chief Physician Erik Sköldenberg isn’t sure when the next age group will be invited or what ages the next vaccination invitation will cover.
“It is difficult to plan because we get late information about how many vaccine doses we will get. But we hope that we can release the next group by the end of this week.”
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In Skåne (Southern Sweden) daily coronavirus infections have come way down from where they were a month ago.
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Finland has registered 113 new infections and had no new virus deaths since yesterday’s update.
The Finnish vaccination campaign has so far administered 2,665,787 1st dose vaccinations (47.8% of the population) while 626,501 people (11.2%) are now fully vaccinated.
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Norway has added 240 infections and had no new corona deaths since yesterday’s update.
COVID hospitalizations (62) have inched upward (+2) while those in an ICU (21) and on a ventilator (10) edged down (both -1).
To date 33.80% of Norwegians have had one vaccine dose while 22.08% have had both.
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Norway’s vaccine passport Koronasertifikat is now up and running. The Norwegian Institute for Public Health says the initial version has limited functionality, pending a government decision on scope of use coming this Friday. The Koronasertifikat displays latest test result, vaccination status, and recent infection to access different events and facilities. Norway’s version differs from the Danish coronapas in using a traffic light system. For example, it will be red if the bearer does not have a valid test, is not vaccinated, or has not had, and recovered from COVID.
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German Health Minister Jens Spahn says 38.2 million people in Germany (46% of the population) have at least one vaccine dose while 18.2 million (22%) are now fully vaccinated. Spahn says 80% of those over 60 years of age and 40% of people 18 to 59 years old have had at least one dose.
He says the goal is to get at least 75% of the population vaccinated, meaning they “have to convince at least 15 million more people.”
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The United Kingdom continues to struggle with the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) as it recorded 6,048 new infections and another 13 deaths in today’s report. COVID infections are up 60% over the last week and fatalities have increased 67% in the same timeframe.
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Moderna has submitted applications to the European Medicines Agency, as well as Health Canada, to expand the use of its COVID vaccine to those as young as 12. Currently, the vaccine is approved for use among those aged 18 and older. The company said it will also file the same application soon with the US Food and Drug Administration.
In clinical trials involving adolescents, the company says it found no coronavirus cases among nearly 2,500 adolescents who received both vaccine doses. It says the clinical trials found “no significant safety concerns” and most of the adverse reactions among the vaccinated children were mild to moderate.
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According to Reuters, Pfizer has begun its next phase of clinical trials, testing its COVID vaccine on children under the age of 12. Children from Finland, Poland, Spain, and the USA are taking part. Currently, the Pfizer vaccine is approved for use on children as young as 12 in countries like Canada, the USA, and in the European Union.
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Canada reported 1,235 new infections yesterday while suffering another 27 coronavirus deaths.
The Canadian vaccination campaign has to date administered 23,501,733 1st dose inoculations (61.84% of the population) while 2,990,003 people (7.87%) are now fully vaccinated.
In Ontario today Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted “Ontario is reporting 469 cases of #COVID19 and nearly 17,600 tests completed. Locally, there are 182 new cases in Toronto, 76 in Peel, 40 in the Porcupine Health Unit Region and 30 in Durham. As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 10,267,613 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, including 158,209 doses administered yesterday.” There were also 18 more deaths.
Quebec reported 150 infections and four more virus deaths.
In Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia registered 17 new infections. New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador each had one.
Manitoba saw 169 infections and two more virus deaths yesterday.
There were 68 new infections and three more deaths in Saskatchewan yesterday.
Alberta recorded 127 new infections and another two virus deaths yesterday. Premier Jason Kenney also apologized after he and some of his cabinet were caught having an outdoor meal on the deck of a swanky government owned high rise in violation of several of the existing restrictions.
B.C. reported 482 infections and another 12 corona deaths covering numbers from Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
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The COVID situation in India is improving but daily deaths are coming down a lot slower than its infection curve.
Yesterday it reported 87,569 new infection cases and 2,036 more corona deaths. Worth noting again that these numbers are likely understated.
