The Evening Report - March 29th
Denmark adjusts its vaccination schedule again
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The Danish National Health Board has updated its vaccination calendar again. It expects everyone in the country who wants one, to now be offered a vaccine by week 29, July 25th. This factors in the continued AstraZeneca vaccine suspension while including the first shipments of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due next month.
Last week, invitations went out to people in target group 7, those aged 80 to 84 years old, to get vaccinated. The health board says that about 25,000 in that group have now had a 1st inoculation. This week Sundhedsstyrelsen says invitations will go out to target group 8, people aged 75 to 79 years old, as well the oldest members of target group 9, 65 to 74 year olds.
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The Staten Serum Institut says it will receive 112,320 doses of the Pfizer vaccine this week. Almost all of those doses will go to target groups 7, 8, and 9. 24,000 doses will be used to complete vaccinations for those who have already had a first shot.
There will be no shipments from Moderna this week.
130,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will also arrive in Denmark this week. Those will not be used because the vaccine’s use remains suspended. The doses will be stored until the go-ahead is given to use the vaccine.
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Johnson & Johnson said today it will begin initial shipments of its one-shot COVID vaccine to Europe on April 19th. It has not said how many doses will begin to arrive next month. The E.U. has signed an agreement with Johnson & Johnson for 200 million doses with an option for another 200 million.
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Denmark is scheduled to get 19,500 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in each of the last two weeks of April for a total of 39,000 initial doses.
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Denmark has added 679 COVID infections and had one more coronavirus death in the last day. There were 211,064 corona tests taken yesterday, 138,662 PCR and 72,402 rapid. For PCR tests only, it equals a positivity percentage of 0.49%.
Overall infections continue to trend up.
COVID hospitalizations (216) have increased (+16), ICU numbers 41 have dipped slightly (-2), and the number of people on a ventilator (25) also edged down (-2).
The impacts of mass vaccinations are again very evident in the latest seven day snapshot of new infections. New cases among those 70 years of age and older continue to drop like a rock.
However the impact of more contagious variants is also just as evident. New infections continue to be focused almost entirely on those 59 years old and down, especially for those 20 to 29 years old.
On the vaccination front to date, 691,650 1st vaccine doses (11.8% of the population) have been administered and 367,547 people (6.3%) are now fully vaccinated.
Yesterday 13,571 total vaccinations were administered.
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One of the many unforeseen impacts of the pandemic includes a decrease in sales of over the counter medication in Denmark. The Danish Pharmacists' Association says the sale of everything from antibiotics to headache medicine has fallen by five-percent in the last year. They say that is directly attributable to less socializing and improved standard hygiene practices brought on by the pandemic.
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Finland has registered 422 infections and five corona deaths in the last 24 hours. Since Friday’s update it has added 1,671 infections.
COVID hospitalizations (259) are up (+5) and ICU numbers (54) are down (-5).
On the vaccination campaign in Finland to date, 843,706 1st dose vaccinations (15.1% of the population) and 88,547 2nd doses (1.6%) have been administered.
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Norway has added 2,216 infections and suffered four more virus deaths since Friday’s update.
COVID hospitalizations (285) are up (+31), ICU numbers (91) are also up (+12), and those on a ventilator (52) also increased (+7).
To date, the Norwegian vaccination campaign has administered 886,874 1st vaccine doses (11.42% of the population) while 204,338 people (5.03%) are now fully vaccinated.
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Sweden won’t update its numbers until tomorrow.
The Local Sweden is reporting that supply chain issues in Sweden have resulted in another adjustment of its vaccination schedule. It had promised to get everyone vaccinated in the first six months of the year. Sweden’s Vaccine Coordinator Richard Bergström now says only about five million Swedes will be vaccinated by June 30th with the remainder getting inoculated in the second half of the year. This is, of course, dependent on no further vaccine delivery shortfalls.
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The CBC is reporting that the National Advisory Committee on Immunization is recommending use of the AstraZeneca vaccine be paused in Canada for people under the age of 55 for safety reasons. As I write this a number of provinces have already announced they are pressing pause on AstraZeneca and more will likely follow suit. This is a big change from a week or two ago when Canadian health officials, and even the Prime Minister himself, touted how safe the vaccine was while European countries suspended its use.
Yesterday Canada reported 4,321 new infections and another 28 virus deaths as its infection curve bends back upwards.
To date, 4,451,633 1st dose vaccinations (11.71% of the population) have been administered while 662,302 people are now fully vaccinated.
Another 1,114 cases of the much more contagious U.K. variant have been identified across Canada since Friday. There are also 36 more Brazilian P1 variant infections, with most of them in B.C.. Alberta, which has by far the most U.K. variant infections, has added another 767 since Friday.
Today Ontario’s Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted, “Ontario is reporting 2,094 cases of COVID19 and nearly 39,500 tests completed. Locally there are 618 new cases in Toronto, 368 in Peel, 277 in York Region, 132 in Ottawa and 104 in Durham. As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 2,031,735 doses of the COVID vaccine have been administered.” There were also ten more deaths.
Quebec recorded 917 infections and two more deaths today. Fears of a third variant wave are rising in the province after it had over 1,000 new infections on Saturday, the first time that has happened since mid-January.
In Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick had six new infections yesterday, Nova Scotia two, and Newfoundland and Labrador one.
There were 55 new infections and one more death in Manitoba yesterday.
Saskatchewan registered 248 infections and another three corona deaths on Sunday.
Alberta recorded 644 new infections yesterday and three more virus deaths. Variants of concern now make up just over 25% of active cases that have been sequenced to screen for COVID mutations.
B.C. does not report over the weekends and it will table three days worth of coronavirus data later today. A 1:00 pm local time news conference has been scheduled today with Premier John Horgan joining his health minister and other officials possibly to announce some kind of restrictions.
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The U.S. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky barely held back tears today as she warned of “impending doom” with infections, fatalities, and hospitalizations rising again in the States. According to Bloomberg’s White House correspondent Josh Wingrove, Walensky said the U.S. cases are fueled in part by states reopening too quickly, too much travel, and more contagious variants arriving on the scene. Numbers are are poised to spike again, unleashing a possible fourth wave of infections.
This should be viewed as a major caution flag coming from a country that is miles ahead of most in administering COVID vaccinations.
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Globally, the total number of COVID infections is once again rising according to statistics from Worldometers.
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A new ‘real world’ study released today suggests the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines appear to have a 90% efficacy against the coronavirus, both in protecting against infections and symptoms. The study was released in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report today. It followed almost 4,000 healthcare workers, first responders, and other front line workers across the United States. Participants were tested weekly.