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Denmark’s finance minster ill with suspected coronavirus

Denmark's finance minister, Nicolai Wammen, has fallen ill and will be tested for coronavirus, the country's finance ministry has said in a statement sent out to Danish journalists.

Published: 6 May 2020 14:51 CEST
Denmark's finance minster ill with suspected coronavirus
Nicolai Wammen as he presented local government funding reforms on Tuesday. Photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix
“The Finance Ministry states that the finance minister has become sick and displayed symptoms which mean that he, on his doctor's advice, will not be tested for Corona,” the statement read. “The minister hopes to return to work as soon as possible.” 
 
Wammen is one of the most heavyweight politicians in Denmark's Social Democrat government, having served as both EU minister and Defence Minister under Helle Thorning-Schmidt from 2011 until 2015. 
 
His department in March and early April launched a succession of  bold and far-reaching measures to limit the impact of the coronavirus shut down on Denmark's economy, winning it praise internationally. 
 
On Tuesday, Wammen announced a significant funding reform for Denmark's municipalities, in one of the first actions his department has taken unrelated to coronavirus in more than a month.
 
 
Kristian Jensen, who served as finance minister, in the previous government, wished Wammen a swift recovery on Twitter. 
 
“Despite our political differences, we need to have the finance minister back at work as soon as possible,” he said. 
 

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Published: 23 December 2022 10:53 CET
Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

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People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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