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Danish corona mink mutation ‘most likely eradicated’

A mutated version of the new coronavirus detected in Danish minks that raised concerns about the effectiveness of a future vaccine has likely been eradicated, Denmark's health ministry said Thursday.

Published: 19 November 2020 15:43 CET
Updated: 20 November 2020 10:40 CET
Danish corona mink mutation 'most likely eradicated'
Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

“There have been no new cases of the 'Cluster 5' mink mutation since September 15th, which has led to the Danish infectious disease authority SSI to conclude that this variant has most likely been eradicated,” the ministry said in a statement, after the government ordered a cull of all the country's 15 to 17 million minks in a bid to halt the spread of the variant.

The government said most of the strict restrictions it had imposed on November 5th on seven municipalities in the North Jutland region, home to 280,000 people, would be lifted on Friday.

They had originally been due to stay in place until December 3rd.

All minks in the seven municipalities have been culled, totalling 10.2 million, and the slaughter is still ongoing in other parts of the country.

With three times more minks than people, the Scandinavian country is the world's biggest exporter, selling pelts for around 670 million euros annually, and the second-biggest producer behind China.

But the animal has posed a problem in the fight against the new coronavirus. The minks can catch the virus, and also pass it back to humans, and Denmark, like several other countries in Europe, began culling sick minks this summer.

Ireland said Thursday that it was planning a nationwide cull of mink on its commercial farms, which are reported to house around 100,000 animals.

Since ordering the cull in early November, the Danish government has been forced to admit that it had no legal power to order healthy minks outside contaminated zones killed, and the agriculture minister resigned on Wednesday.

But Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has insisted the cull is “non-negotiable”, and her government is now preparing to ban mink farming altogether until 2022.

Health authorities said initial studies had shown that future vaccines against Covid-19 could be less effective on the 'Cluster 5' variant.

Earlier on Thursday, Oxford University and AstraZeneca said their potential jab had safely produced a robust immune response in older adults.

The vaccine is now in large-scale phase 3 trials to confirm the results, following in the footsteps of those developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, which this month announced their products were effective at preventing coronavirus.

READ ALSO: Danish government confirms North Jutland restrictions to be eased early

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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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