Denmark bans covid vaccine for healthy people under age 50.
- Thread starter i am herdman
- Start date
Indeed.
But it’s not true that Denmark is “banning” the boosters for those under 50 due to safety concerns.
Rather, the Danish Health Authority is focusing its fall vaccination drive on those who are most vulnerable to severe illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19 — which means those who are over 60. But the Danish health system is offering the boosters to everyone 50 and older as a precaution, as it has explained in the publicly available report on the reasoning and planned implementation of the program.
The current Danish vaccination program — announced on Sept. 13 — is aimed at 2.5 million people, Tina Gustavsen, a spokeswoman for the Danish Health Authority, told us in an email. The total population of Denmark is 5.9 million, according to the World Bank.
Referring to the plan to give booster shots to roughly half the country, she said, “It stands to reason that any health authority on the planet would only do this when they are convinced that the vaccines are safe.”
In addition to anyone 50 and older, the booster shots will be given to those under 50 who have underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk for severe illness, those who work in health care or eldercare, relatives of those who are at high risk and pregnant women.
“The aim of the vaccination programme against covid-19 this autumn is to get us well through the winter by protecting people who are at the highest risk of becoming severely ill and by avoiding that the Danish healthcare system, especially the hospitals, are overburdened,” the Danish Health Authority explained in an English-language post on its website.
Further, Gustavsen told us by email, “Data also show that the population under the age of 50 is expected to have significant immunity, both as a result of previous infection and previous vaccination. On this basis, and due to the fact that very few persons under the age of 50 are at risk of running a serious course of covid-19 disease, the Danish Health Authority does not currently plan on recommending vaccination to persons under the age of 18 as a group. Children and young people who are at increased risk of a serious course of covid-19 will continue to have the option of vaccination after individual assessment.”
We asked if those under 50 who don’t fit the increased risk criteria could get a booster if they wanted. Gustavsen said, “In Denmark, the vaccination strategy against covid-19 in the fall/winter 2022/23 is to prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death from covid-19 – not to prevent infections.”
She also noted that primary vaccination continues to be available for those under 50.
As of Sept. 13, about 82% of Denmark’s population was fully vaccinated, compared to about 68% in the U.S.
“We have achieved very high population immunity in Denmark,” the Danish Health Authority wrote in an explainer about the new booster drive. “This is due both to the high adherence to the vaccination programme and to many people previously having been infected with covid-19. … We expect that a large part of the population will become infected with covid-19 during the autumn, and we therefore want to vaccinate those having the highest risk so that they are protected from severe illness if they become infected.”
So, the claim that Denmark has banned those under 50 from getting vaccinated against COVID-19 due to safety concerns is false. The country has a high rate of adherence to vaccination and is focusing its current booster drive on those who are most vulnerable, which accounts for nearly half the population.
https://www.factcheck.org/2022/09/s...ehood-out-of-denmarks-covid-19-booster-drive/
