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COVID-19

Denmark scraps provision for enforced vaccination in new epidemic bill

A political majority has given its backing to a bill providing for a new epidemic law to replace the emergency law passed at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Published: 21 December 2020 17:08 CET
Denmark scraps provision for enforced vaccination in new epidemic bill
Health minister Magnus Heunicke. Photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

The bill, announced over the weekend, is significantly different from an earlier proposal which the government withdraw due to popular and political opposition over the far-reaching powers it could have given authorities.

The new version is backed by a broad majority of parties from both the right and left wing parliamentary blocs, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

One particularly criticised element of the original proposal, which would have allowed forced vaccination in order to contain and eliminate a dangerous disease in specified situations, is not in the new bill.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: What is Denmark's proposed 'epidemic law' and why is it being criticised?

Restrictions of an “interventionist nature” will now require a parliamentary vote and cannot unilaterally be placed by the health minister, DR reports.

Meanwhile, the most controversial element of the previous proposal, which provided for vaccination to be forced through physical detainment if deemed necessary to contain and eliminate a dangerous disease, has been scrapped. All provisions for any application of force under any circumstances have been written out of the bill.

“We are simply writing all forms of forced vaccination out of the epidemic law because we believe that information and openness are better for the vaccination case than threats and force,” health minister Magnus Heunicke said.

According to the new bill, restrictions of an “interventionist nature” will require a parliamentary majority before they can be implemented. Proposed restrictions must be presented to a parliamentary committee.

The new ‘epidemic law' (epidemilov) will replace an emergency law passed in the spring which gave the government extended powers to intervene in society in order to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. That law expires on March 1st 2021.

 

 

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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.” 

READ ALSO: 

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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