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VACCINE

Denmark allows AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines to be given by private suppliers

A new scheme came into effect on Thursday allowing people in Denmark to choose to have the Covid-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

Published: 20 May 2021 10:39 CEST
Denmark allows AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines to be given by private suppliers
Denmark is to allow private companies to dispense Covid-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Photo: Vincent West/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix

The vaccines from the two companies have both been withdrawn by Danish health authorities from the national vaccination programme. Only the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are in general use in Denmark, which currently expects to complete vaccination of its population by the end of August.

But it will soon be possible to choose to have either the AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

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Health minister Magnus Heunicke signed an order allowing the vaccines to be chosen, the Ministry of Health confirmed in a statement.

The order, which comes into effect on Thursday, enables private providers to give the vaccinations on a contractual basis.

As such, it may become possible to access Covid-19 vaccination earlier than would otherwise be possible via the national programme. Consultations and vaccinations are expected to begin soon, news wire Ritzau reports.

“This will take place after consultation with a doctor where you will be given thorough information and must give informed consent if you wish to make use of this arrangement,” Heunicke said in the statement.

“There is broad political support for the arrangement, which is another important element of our vaccination effort,” he added.

The vaccines from the two companies were taken out of the national programme due to a very small risk of serious side effects combined with the stable situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in Denmark reducing the urgency to use them, health authorities previously said.

Private company Practio said it is prepared to vaccinate using AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson if it is awarded the contract to do so.

Co-founder of Practio Jonas Nilson told newspaper Jyllands-Posten that as many as 2,000 people have already put themselves on the waiting list for a vaccine.

Nilson expects the company to begin giving first doses from next week with as many as 100 doctors showing interest in vaccinating for the firm, according to the newspaper report.

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COVID-19

IN NUMBERS: Has the Omicron Covid-19 wave peaked in Denmark?

The number of new Covid-19 infections fell on Saturday for the second day in a row, following a three-day plateau at the start of last week. Has the omicron wave peaked?

Published: 8 January 2022 15:49 CET
IN NUMBERS: Has the Omicron Covid-19 wave peaked in Denmark?
Graffiti in the Copenhagen hippy enclave of Christiania complaining of Omicron's impact on Christmas. Photo: Philip Davali/Scanpix

How many cases, hospitalisations and deaths are there in Denmark? 

Denmark registered 12,588 new cases in the 24 hours leading up to 2pm on Saturday, down from the 18,261 registered on in the day leading up to Friday at 2pm, which was itself a decline from the record 28,283 cases recorded on Wednesday. 

The cases were identified by a total of 174,517 PCR tests, bringing the positive percentage to 7.21 percent, down from the sky high rates of close to 12 percent seen in the first few days of January. 

The number of cases over the past seven days is lower than the week before in almost every municipality in Denmark, with only Vallensbæk, Aarhus, Holseterbro, Skanderborg, Hjørring, Vordingborg,  Ringkøbing, Kolding, Assens, Horsens, Thisted, and Langeland reporting rises. 

Hospitalisations have also started to fall, with some 730 patients being treated for Covid-10 on Saturday, down from 755 on Friday. On Tuesday, 794 were being treated for Covid-19 in Danish hospitals, the highest number since the peak of the 2020-21 winter wave.

The only marker which has not yet started to fall is the number of deaths, which tends to trail infections and hospitalisations. 

In the 24 hours leading up to 2pm on Saturday, Denmark registered 28 deaths with Covid-19, the highest daily number recorded since 20 January 2021, when 29 people died with Covid-19 (although Denmark’s deadliest day was the 19 January 2021, when 39 people died). 

How does Denmark compare to other countries in Europe? 

Over the last seven days, Denmark has had the highest Covid-19 case rate of any country in Europe bar Ireland. The number of new infections in the country has climbed steadily since the start of December, apart from a brief fall over Christmas. 

So does this mean the omicron wave has peaked? 

Maybe, although experts are not sure. 

“Of course, you can hope for that, but I’m not sure that is the case,” said Christian Wejse, head of the Department for Infectious Diseases at Aarhus University Hospital. “I think it is too early to conclude that the epidemic has peaked.”

He said that patients with the Omicron variant were being discharged more rapidly on average than had been the case with those who had the more dangerous Delta variant. 

“Many admissions are relatively short-lived, thankfully. This is because many do not become that il, and are largely hospitalized because they are suffering with something else. And if they are stable and do not need oxygen, then they are quickly discharged again.” 

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said during a visit to an event held by the Social Liberal party that the latest numbers made her even more optimistic about the coming month. 

“We have lower infection numbers and the number of hospitalisations is also plateauing,” she said. “I think we’re going to get through this winter pretty well, even if it will be a difficult time for a lot of people, and we are beginning to see the spring ahead of us, so I’m actually very optimistic.” 

She said that she had been encouraged by the fact that Omicron was a “visibly less dangerous variant if it is not allowed to explode.” 

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