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HEALTH

Denmark to offer Covid and influenza booster vaccines to over-65s

People over the age of 65 in Denmark will be offered booster vaccines against both Covid-19 and influenza from October.

Published: 5 September 2023 17:16 CEST
Denmark to offer Covid and influenza booster vaccines to over-65s
Denmark will ofer Covid vaccines to over-65s this autumn. File photo:Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

Danish residents over the age of 65 will be offered a Covid booster vaccine for the third year this autumn, with an influenza booster also available at the point of service.

The autumn vaccination campaign was announced by Danske Regioner, the national organisation for the regional health authorities, in a statement on Tuesday.

An invitation for the vaccines will be sent to eligible persons via the secure digital mail service e-Boks, or by physical letter, the health authority said.

Vaccinations can be given at pharmacies and regional vaccination centres from October 1st and will remain available until January 15th next year.

“it must be easy for Danes [people who live in Denmark, ed.] to be vaccinated and the opening times and geographical distribution of pharmacies will help with that. I’m therefore pleased that they will be helping us to fulfil the task of vaccination against influenza and Covid-19 that begins this autumn,” Danske Regioner chairperson Anders Kühnau said in the statement.

The website vacciner.dk can be used to check your nearest location for vaccination.

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HEALTH

Tick season in Denmark: Demand for TBE vaccine soars in parts of country

People in Copenhagen and surrounding areas of Zealand have increasingly sought vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) after an increase in ticks in parts of the countryside.

Published: 30 April 2024 17:13 CEST
Tick season in Denmark: Demand for TBE vaccine soars in parts of country

Baltic Sea island Bornholm is the part of Denmark most known to be a risk area for the rare, but dangerous disease tick-borne encephalitis (TBE).

However, last year saw a rise in the number of people from Copenhagen, Greater Copenhagen and North Zealand seeking vaccination against the disease, according to figures released by the national disease control agency, State Serum Institute (SSI), reported by local media TV2 Kosmopol.

In North Zealand alone, the number of vaccinations increased last year from around 500 to 2,000 per 100,000 residents.

Nationally, 89,000 doses were given last year according to SSI, around three times the expected amount.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about ticks in Denmark and how to avoid them 

The trend is expected to continue in 2024. The vaccination serice Danske Lægers Vaccinations Services has already administered 11,500 so far this year at its 47 clinics across the country. That is 3.5 times more than in the same period last year, with 75 percent of the vaccinations given on Zealand.

Walks in the countryside and trips to Sweden were given by patients requesting the vaccine, the company’s CEO Tanja Sølvkjær told TV 2 Kosmopol.

SSI states on its website that the primary risk areas in Denmark are still Bornholm and the rural North Zealand region of Tisvilde Hegn. However, there may also be some risk of TBE infection elsewhere on Zealand, the agency states.

Head of department at SSI Peter Henrik Andersen said that while it is good that people are seeking vaccination against the virus, the right people must be vaccinated.

Vaccination may be relevant if you regularly visit forests where cases of TBE infection have been detected, he said.

SSI case mapping shows that five cases of TBE were detected on Bornholm last year, while there were two in Tisvilde Hegn and the surrounding area.

Ticks (skovflåter) can be found all over Denmark in forests, meadows, and long grass. They are particularly active during the summer months and increase in number if the weather has been warm and humid.

In Denmark, the most common disease ticks transmit is Lyme disease, but ticks can also carry the very rare but dangerous TBE.

Only people who spend extended time in forests near Tisvilde Hegn as well as on the island of Bornholm should consider vaccination, SSI experts have previously said.

TBE is a viral brain infection caused by a particular tick bite. Flu-like symptoms can occur a week or more after the bite and can develop to include nausea, dizziness, and in around a third of cases, severe long-term problems or permanent neurological damage.

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