The decision will result in people who have not yet received a first dose of a vaccine being offered it a week earlier, according to the Danish Health Authority.

Increasing the gap between doses will mean more people receive their first dose sooner, giving higher immunity in the Danish population, the authority said,

“This means we can generally push forward the time for first-time vaccination by one week,” the agency informed broadcaster DR.

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The overall effect on the vaccination calendar, which currently has Denmark on schedule to finish vaccinating its population against Covid-19 by early August, was not confirmed by the authority to DR.

But the government has previously stated its aim to lift the majority of all coronavirus restrictions once everyone over the age of 50 (aside those who decline vaccination) has been inoculated.

In the latest version of the calendar, vaccination of the group covering this age begins on May 17th and is scheduled to end by July 4th.

In neighbouring Norway, the practice of extending the lag time between doses was introduced in early March. Norwegian health authorities are currently considering whether to extend the gap even further, to 12 weeks.

The United Kingdom, where almost 50 percent of the population have now received a first dose, has used a waiting time of up to 12 weeks between doses since December.

Pfizer recommends that the second dose be given no more than six weeks after the first, but a study has shown that a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine reduces the risk of hospitalisation with Covid-19 by 85 percent four weeks after receiving the dose.