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VACCINE

Covid-19 vaccines to thank for significantly fewer Danish infections and deaths, agency finds

Last week saw no deaths related to Covid-19 at care homes in Denmark, the first time that has been the case since September 2020.

Published: 18 March 2021 18:07 CET
Covid-19 vaccines to thank for significantly fewer Danish infections and deaths, agency finds
Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

That is because the vast majority of residents at the care homes have now been vaccinated against the coronavirus, the Danish national infectious disease agency State Serum Institute (SSI) has confirmed according to news wire Ritzau.

The first week of 2021 saw 81 deaths at care homes, a figure which reached zero by the ninth week of the year. Not since September has Denmark gone through a week without losing any elderly care home residents to the virus.

Care homes are also seeing a steep drop in the number of recorded cases of Covid-19.

Just a single case was registered last week, according to SSI. That compares to 464 in the first week of this year.

According to an SSI notification acquired by Ritzau, the infectious disease agency expects Denmark to reduce the number of coronavirus deaths by 81 percent once all people over 50 have been offered the vaccine. That stage is expected to be reached by June according to the current vaccination schedule.

An expert has previously said that the drop in cases and deaths in Denmark can only be attributed to vaccinations.

“When the fall-off is so extreme it is entirely clear that it is the vaccines that are making their mark now,” University of Copenhagen professor of immunology Jan Pravsgaard Christensen told broadcaster TV2.

Denmark began its Covid-19 vaccination programme on December 27th and currently expects to complete vaccinating its population by the end of July.

READ ALSO: Denmark to consider lifting coronavirus restrictions at care homes

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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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