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Denmark pushes back target for full vaccination by one more week

Denmark yet again changed its target date for when all residents over the age of 16 will be vaccinated, pushing it back a week until August 29th. But not everyone will see delays.

Published: 10 May 2021 13:50 CEST
Updated: 10 May 2021 17:10 CEST
Denmark pushes back target for full vaccination by one more week
A testing centre for the CureVac vaccine back in March last year. The vaccine has still not been approaved by Denmark's regulators. Photo: Yves Herman/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix

According to the new vaccine calendar, released on Monday, Denmark now expects 1.2m fewer doses to arrive between June 7th and August 22nd, due to delays around the CureVac vaccine.

“The date when we expect to have finished the vaccinations has been delayed to August 29th”, Søren Bostrøm, director of the Danish Health Authority.  “We are now pushing on with the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, and then we will also use CureVac when it is approved.” 

In a statement , the authority said that the German vaccine was now “not expected to become part of the Danish vaccination program until the summer, if it is approved for use.” 

At the same time, Denmark expects to start vaccinating those in the 55 to 59-year-old age bracket earlier than expected, due to good progress vaccinating 60 to 64-year-olds, with the first people in their late 50s getting a jab by the end of this week.

Although the date 30 to 34-year-old can expect their first jab has been pushed back by two weeks, the date when they will be fully vaccinated has only been pushed back by one week. 

“The planned interval between the first and second jabs for the last target groups can be adjusted to a shorter interval to ensure greater immunity more rapidly,” the authority explained.

Denmark’s health minister Magnus Heunicke was upbeat at the press conference, despite the new delay, saying that now 31 percent of Danes over the age of 16 have had at least the first jab and 17.9 percent both jabs, the impact on the rate of hospitalisation and death was getting more pronounced. 

“Right now, there are more people in hospital in the 30 to 39-year-old age bracket than those over 80 years old. And that is good, as the younger groups also have a significantly better chance of recovery,” he said, according to Danish state broadcaster DR. 

Henrik Ullum, from Denmark’s state infectious disease agency SSI, said that young people now dominated among those testing positive. 

“The infection is greatest among the young and younger adults,” he said. “These are groups that see each other a lot, and the infection also reflects our reopening of educational institutions.” 

Brostrøm warned young people that they needed to be especially careful to avoid spreading the virus. 

“In the days to come, the predominance of the young among infected people will naturally increase, in that they will not have yet been vaccinated,” he said. “And they still have a responsibility to prevent infection. You can also become seriously ill as a young person, and you can have very extremely troublesome long-term effects,” he said.

Who will see their first jab delayed a week? 

Citizens aged 16-19 years (now fully vaccinated mid-July) 

Citizens aged 20-24 years (now fully vaccinated end of first week in August) 

Citizens aged 25-29 years (now fully vaccinated end of August) 

Citizens aged 35-39 years (now fully vaccinated end of August) 

Citizens aged 40-44 years (now fully vaccinated end of first week in August) 

Citizens aged 45-49 years (now fully vaccinated mid-July) 

Who will see their first jab delayed two weeks? 

Citizens aged 30-34 years (now fully vaccinated end of August).  

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COVID-19

Who should get vaccinated against Covid and flu in Denmark and when?

It is still free to get a Covid-19 vaccine in Denmark if you are over the age of 65 or have a health condition, with the health authorities now running Covid and flu vaccinations together. Here's what you need to know.

Published: 26 October 2023 11:10 CEST
Who should get vaccinated against Covid and flu in Denmark and when?

Who is being offered a vaccine for Covid-19 or flu this autumn? 

According to the information on the Danish Health Authority’s website, Covid-19 and flu vaccines are being offered to: 

  • People over the age of 65
  • People under the age of 65 who have a health condition which puts them at increased risk. You can find a list of the long-term health conditions deemed a risk here. 
  • Pregnant women in the 2nd and 3rd trimester

Children between 2 and 6 years of age are being offered a special flu vaccine for children, which is administered as a nose spray, but not the Covid vaccine (unless they fit one of the categories above). 

Those who have retired early, for whatever reason, are also being offered the flu vaccine but not a Covid-19 vaccine.  

People over the age of 65 and the parents of children between the ages of 2 and 6 will automatically receive an invitation to get vaccinated though their digital postbox at borger.dk, e-Boks and mit.dk.

People in the other eligible categories will not receive an invitation. 

If you have not yet received an invitation, do not worry, as invitations are being staggered over October and the start of November.  

READ ALSO: 

When and where can I get vaccinated? 

This year’s autumn vaccination campaign started on October 1st and will continue until January 15th. 

You can get vaccinated at one of over 50 regional vaccination sites all over Denmark, or at the over 280 local pharmacies which are signed up to be part of the programme. 

Residents of care homes for the elderly and others in need will be offered vaccinated at their home.

You can log in and book an appointment at your nearest centre or pharmacy at Denmark’s official vaccination website www.vacciner.dk.

Is it possible to get vaccinated against both flu and Covid-19 at the same time? 

The Danish Health Authority has judged that it is safe to receive vaccines against both flu and Covid-19 at the same time, but the two vaccines cannot be mixed in the same syringe, so you will receive two separate injections. 

Is vaccination compulsory? 

No. Although the strongly recommends everyone in the various risk categories to get vaccinated, it is up to every individual whether to do so. 

Is it possible to get vaccinated even if I am not over 65 or in a risk group? 

It is no longer possible to get vaccinated against Covid-19 or flu through Denmark’s national vaccination programme if you are not in one of the recommended categories, after the country’s health authorities stopped offering paid vaccinations.  

But it remains possible to get vaccinated at a private vaccination centre, such as the SikkerRejse chain found in most Danish towns. The chain, which has a waiting list, offers doses of the latest Comirnaty Omicron XBB.1.5 vaccine for a total price of 995 kroner. 

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