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Coronavirus: Sweden extends travel ban from Denmark

Sweden on Sunday announced an extension to the travel ban from Denmark until February 14th, over concerns of the new variant of coronavirus spreading.

Published: 24 January 2021 15:49 CET
Coronavirus: Sweden extends travel ban from Denmark
Illustration photo of Copenhagen airport. Photo: Liselotte Sabroe / Ritzau Scanpix

The extension to the travel ban was confirmed at a digital press conference on Sunday January 24th, when the Swedish government announced a new travel ban on entry from Norway. The entry ban from the United Kingdom was also extended until February 14th.

On Saturday January 23rd, the Norwegian government introduced a series of very strict restrictions in Oslo and nine more municipalities due to an outbreak of the more contagious B117 coronavirus variant, first identified in Britain.

The British virus mutation already exists in Sweden. So far, about 50 cases have been confirmed, the vast majority of them are linked to people who have been abroad, according to the Swedish Public Health Agency.

“The ban applies from midnight until February 14th and can be extended if necessary”, Interior Minister Mikael Damberg said at the digital press conference on Sunday afternoon.

READ MORE: COVID UPDATE: Sweden bans travel entry from Norway

In December, the Swedish government announced a ban on travel into Sweden from both the UK and Denmark, due to the new coronavirus variant in the countries. The ban was initially due to last a month.

It was the first time during the pandemic that the Scandinavian country closed the border on one of its neighbours. 

Swedish citizens are exempt from the entry ban, as are non-citizens who live or work in Sweden, and people working in the transportation of goods.
 
The B117 coronavirus variant has previously been estimated to be between 50-74 percent more infectious than established forms of Covid-19.

It is expected to comprise 50 percent of all Covid-19 variants in circulation in Denmark by the middle of February, according to a new report issued by the State Serum Institute (SSI).

It has been traced to have first appeared in Denmark in November, but was reported to have become established in the south east of England in December.

READ ALSO: How could infectious Covid-19 variant impact Denmark's infection numbers?

 

 

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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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