Denmark to offer all over-50s autumn Covid-19 vaccine
As many as 2.5 million residents of Denmark, almost half the country’s population, will be offered an new booster vaccination against Covid-19 this autumn.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen presented on Wednesday the national plan for a potential new wave of the coronavirus this autumn and winter.
At a press briefing, Frederiksen said that nursing and care home residents, as well as everyone over the age of 50, would be offered Covid-19 vaccination this autumn.
People who live in care homes and others in vulnerable groups will be offered the vaccine from September 15th, with over-50s invited to be vaccinated from October 1st.
A new round of vaccination is part of a broader strategy to avoid shutting down parts of society due to national Covid-19 outbreaks, as seen in Denmark and the rest of the world in 2020 and 2021.
She said that vaccines were to thank for restrictions in winter 2021-22 being less severe than in the preceding year.
“The most important tool is still the vaccines. They showed their value last winter,” she said.
“But we also know that the protection given by vaccines fall off over time and that health authorities expect a new (Covid-19) wave,” she said.
READ ALSO: Covid-19: Omicron subvariant now dominant in Denmark
The director of the Danish Health Authority, Søren Brostrøm, said at the briefing that the decision to offer vaccination to over-50s was based on a “principle of caution”.
The World Health Authority has recommended offering vaccination to people over 60, Brostrøm said.
Danish residents under the age of 50 will be offered a vaccine if they are vulnerable or in risk groups for serious illness with Covid-19.
The vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer will be used in the Danish vaccination programme, as was the case in 2021.
Existing Covid-19 vaccines are known not to protect with high effectiveness against infection with the Omicron variant, but do reduce the severity of illness if it is contracted.
“One of the things we have learned with the new variants Omicron, ed.] is that the vaccines are not particularly good at preventing infection. We’ve learned something here,” Brostrøm said.
But their ability to reduce the severity of disease means that, by vaccinating a large part of the population, Denmark can avoid a “large wave of illness,” he said.
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Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen presented on Wednesday the national plan for a potential new wave of the coronavirus this autumn and winter.
At a press briefing, Frederiksen said that nursing and care home residents, as well as everyone over the age of 50, would be offered Covid-19 vaccination this autumn.
People who live in care homes and others in vulnerable groups will be offered the vaccine from September 15th, with over-50s invited to be vaccinated from October 1st.
A new round of vaccination is part of a broader strategy to avoid shutting down parts of society due to national Covid-19 outbreaks, as seen in Denmark and the rest of the world in 2020 and 2021.
She said that vaccines were to thank for restrictions in winter 2021-22 being less severe than in the preceding year.
“The most important tool is still the vaccines. They showed their value last winter,” she said.
“But we also know that the protection given by vaccines fall off over time and that health authorities expect a new (Covid-19) wave,” she said.
READ ALSO: Covid-19: Omicron subvariant now dominant in Denmark
The director of the Danish Health Authority, Søren Brostrøm, said at the briefing that the decision to offer vaccination to over-50s was based on a “principle of caution”.
The World Health Authority has recommended offering vaccination to people over 60, Brostrøm said.
Danish residents under the age of 50 will be offered a vaccine if they are vulnerable or in risk groups for serious illness with Covid-19.
The vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer will be used in the Danish vaccination programme, as was the case in 2021.
Existing Covid-19 vaccines are known not to protect with high effectiveness against infection with the Omicron variant, but do reduce the severity of illness if it is contracted.
“One of the things we have learned with the new variants Omicron, ed.] is that the vaccines are not particularly good at preventing infection. We’ve learned something here,” Brostrøm said.
But their ability to reduce the severity of disease means that, by vaccinating a large part of the population, Denmark can avoid a “large wave of illness,” he said.
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