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Denmark reassured over country’s risk from Covid-19 variant detected in India

A new variant of Covid-19 detected in India is not likely to be more infectious than forms of the virus already established in Denmark, according to the national infectious disease agency State Serum Institute (SSI).

Published: 27 April 2021 13:39 CEST
Denmark reassured over country’s risk from Covid-19 variant detected in India
State Serum Institute medical director Tyra Grove Krause.Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

The Danish agency commented on the variant, B1617, in a statement after 29 cases were detected in Denmark.

India has seen a devastating recent explosion in cases with the variant highly prevalent in the Asian country. Monday saw 2,812 coronavirus-related deaths in India, where over 300,000 new cases have now been recorded in each of the last five days. India’s population is around 1.4 billion.

SSI’s medical director Tyra Grove Krause said in the statement that the B1617 variant does not appear to be more of a threat to the virus situation in Denmark than B117, the already-dominant, more infectious variant originally identified in the United Kingdom.

“We do not have data that suggests that B1617 is more infectious than, for example, B117 and our assessment is also that vaccines will be effective against it,” Krause said.

B1617 is most prevalent in India and in parts of North America as well as in Europe.

Amongst the 29 cases detected in Denmark, only three were found in Danish nationals. 20 were in people from India, with five from Iran and one from Lithuania.

Four different clusters are responsible for the 29 infections, according to SSI. Of these, three have been linked to foreign travel. None of the infected individuals have died.

READ ALSO: Danish PM wants domestic Covid-19 vaccine production in 2022

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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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