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VACCINATION

One last push: How Denmark is battling to get the last citizens vaccinated

Drop-in jabs, accosting people at test centres, pop-up vaccinations at schools and universities, and begging posts from the health minister: Denmark is doing all it can to encourage the last of its citizens to make time to get vaccinated.

One last push: How Denmark is battling to get the last citizens vaccinated
Søren Brostrøm, director of the Danish Health Authority, gives a jab at a drop-in vaccination centre in Aalborg. Photo: Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix

About 800,000 people in Denmark have received a call to get vaccinated, but have not yet booked a time to get their first jab, according to the latest statistics from the SSI infectious diseases agency. 

That represents about 16 percent, or just under a sixth, of the 5.11m people who have been invited, much more than the roughly five percent of the population who are opposed to receiving the vaccine. 

At the same time, there are now tens of thousands of unbooked vaccination slots, with Central Jutland telling TV2 on Friday that they had 38,000 slots free this week and 70,000 next week, and people are increasingly missing their booked times. 

We have experienced that in some centres, up to 20 citizens have been absent in one day. We have not experienced this before, Trine Holgersen, the region’s vaccination manager, told TV2

On Thursday, 55.6 percent of people in Denmark are fully vaccinated, while 72.3 percent have received their first jabs. 

But Søren Brostrøm, director of the Danish Health Authority, is not too worried. 

These are young people who have probably moved away from home, may not have started a family, and may not see coronavirus as the major risk factor, and we will try to reach them,” he told the Ritzau newswire.

Denmark does not, however, plan to follow the example of the town of Sonneberg in Germany, which is offering free Bratwurst sausages to those who get vaccinated. 

“I do not think it is necessary to give cream buns, draft beer, or cash to get people vaccinated, nor do I believe in demands,” Brostrøm said, saying he was confident Denmark could reach its target of 95 percent vaccination without such measures.  

Instead, he said, the authority planned to “give people a nudge” by sending a reminder to their e-boks digital mailbox. 

The authority also said on Wednesday that it wanted pop-up vaccination centres outside educational centres, such as schools and universities. 

Region Zealand already has plans for 30 pop-up vaccination centres at various higher education facilities, such University College Absalon, EUC Sjælland, and Zealand Business College.

Denmark’s Health Minister Magnus Heunicke on Tuesday exhorted those who hadn’t yet booked a jab to get out and do so in a post on his Facebook page. 

“We have quite a few citizens who really want to get vaccinated, but who for one reason or another haven’t done it yet. You are the ones I’m addressing,” he wrote. “Now that many are on their way back from vacation, it’s time for us to get it done.”

He also called on parents of children between the ages of 12 and 15, only 31 percent of whom have received their first dose, to book times for their children. 

Danish municipalities, meanwhile, are trying to make getting vaccinated as easy as possible, with drop-in schemes. 

The Copenhagen Capital Region on Thursday announced that it plans to offer drop-in vaccinations at all of its vaccination centres from August 16th, and is aiming to double its vaccination capacity at the start of September. 

“If we want to get through the autumn without a flare-up in infections, then it’s important that as many people as possible get offered vaccinations,” said the newly appointed regional council chairman Lars Gaardhøj in a statement.

A full 280,000 people in Copenhagen have been called in to be vaccinated but have yet to book a time. 

Elsewhere, people who come in to get tested are being diverted to vaccination centres. 

In Odense, Billedskærervej Test Centre has teamed up with the Athenevænget vaccination centre 5km away, asking those who come in to get tested whether they have yet arranged a date for vaccination, and if not trying to send them to get a drop-in jab then and there. 

Rachel Sander, deputy head nurse at the vaccination centre, said she had decided on the move after seeing a fall in the number of people coming in to get vaccinated. 

The vaccination rate in Denmark has slowed from as many as 40,000 a day at the start of June to between 10,000 to 20,000 a day at the end of July. 

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HEALTH

Can you get a covid vaccine in Denmark if you’re not in the at-risk groups?

If you’re not in one of the ‘high risk’ categories, a covid booster can be hard to come by in Denmark.

Can you get a covid vaccine in Denmark if you’re not in the at-risk groups?

A growing body of research indicates that keeping your covid vaccination up to date decreases your risk of long covid—a range of cardiovascular, neurological and respiratory symptoms that can be debilitating. But accessing the vaccine booster is not straightforward in Denmark if you are not within one of the ‘risk groups’ for the national annual booster scheme.

Ahead of winter 2023, the Danish government made a significant change to its covid vaccination policy. From November 2022 until October 2023, anyone who wanted to get vaccinated could do so at the government vaccination centres for a modest fee.

But in October 2023, the Danish government said it was bowing out of the elective booster game, since “vaccines will be sold on the private market under normal market conditions,” the Danish Health Ministry (Sundhedsministeriet) wrote.

READ ALSO: Covid-19 no longer given special status in Denmark

But it seems pharmacies and private clinics didn’t step in to fill the void the way the Danish government expected—although public health websites linked out to the Apotek pharmacy chain as a resource for voluntary covid vaccination, Apotek pharmacy confirmed to the Local Denmark via email that they did not offer paid covid vaccines this year.

As of February 5th, the only option for a voluntary covid booster in the Greater Copenhagen metropolitan area is through Copenhagen Medical, a private clinic in Sankt Annæ Plads near Nyhavn that offers a range of travel vaccines and tests. The Pfizer booster costs 920 kroner.

Other companies offer paid vaccinations, but the closest clinics are at least 30 km away (for instance, the Danske Lægers Vaccinations Service offers paid covid vaccines at their Roskilde and Hillerød locations).

The public covid vaccine campaign ended on January 15th, by when 1.1 million people had received a Covid vaccine during the 2023-2024 season in Denmark, according to the State Serum Institute, Denmark’s infectious disease agency.

SSI told the Local that it is unable to determine how many of those were through the public vaccination programme and how many were paid for at private clinics.

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