The Evening Report - April 13th
The E.U. vaccination effort hits yet another roadblock.
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recommended pausing the usage of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine after six reports of post-vaccination blood clotting. As of this report at least eleven States have suspended use of the vaccine.
In reaction, Public Health Canada says it “is aware of the U.S. pause on the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to reports of unusual blood clots. Health Canada authorized this vaccine on March 5; however, there have been no shipments to Canada.” They added that they are “following this issue closely and are working with the manufacturer, the US Food and Drug Administration and other international regulators. Health Canada has asked Johnson & Johnson to provide information on any cases of these rare blood clotting events.”
The move is having a major impact on the European vaccination campaign as the E.U’s Health Commissioner now says the vaccine’s European roll out “has been paused by the company.”
In response, Denmark Statsminister Mette Frederiksen stated today:
“We do not yet know what this means for the Danish vaccine rollout. We must be sure that the risks of the vaccines are commensurate with the benefits of the vaccines. We must leave that to the Danish and European health authorities to assess.”
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was approved by the E.U. last month and millions of first doses were supposed to arrive in Europe this week.
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The Danish government and political parties met this afternoon to hash out details on how to ease travel restrictions. TV2 has been leaked a draft agreement, which could change during the negotiations, and it appears people in Denmark will be able to travel freely as of April 21st to visit remote cabins and summer houses elsewhere in the Nordics without having to isolate when they return home. Same applies to business travelers.
Also on April 21st, quarantine rules will be relaxed for travelers coming from ‘yellow’ countries. And the list of valid purposes required to enter Denmark will be expanded.
In May, fully vaccinated people from Denmark and travelers from yellow and orange E.U. countries will be able to travel freely in and out of Denmark.
It is also worth noting that when everyone over the age of 50 has been vaccinated in Denmark - something that could be achieved by May or early June - then a great deal of restrictions, travel and otherwise, will be lifted.
Testing and isolation requirements may remain in place for countries considered to be a COVID risk.
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Denmark’s Health Minister Magnus Heunicke says the COVID contact number (reinfection rate or R0) remains at 1 for a second straight week. Heunicke says this “is a really good place to be” showing the pandemic situation in the country remains stable.
Denmark is reporting 563 COVID infections and three more coronavirus deaths in the last day.
There were 438,502 total corona tests done yesterday, 155,057 PCR and 328,445 rapid, for a (PCR only) positivity percentage of 0.36%.
COVID hospitalizations (197) continue to drop (-10), while the number of those in an ICU (39) also inched down (-1). The number of people on a ventilator (28) remains unchanged.
On the vaccination front to date, 976,942 1st dose vaccinations (16.7% of the population) have been administered while 461,206 people (7.9%) are now fully vaccinated.
Yesterday 105,354 total vaccinations were administered, slightly higher than was reported yesterday by the health minister.
The Southern Denmark Health Region says 43,290 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine have arrived for this week. The doses will be targeted at getting second shots for those over the age of 85 and those 65 years old and older receiving home care. The remaining doses will go to continuing vaccinations in the other seven priority groups.
As for vaccination progress so far for the 1.2 million people who live in the region.
179,948 southern Danes have received the first vaccination, about 14.7% of the region's population.
100,212 people in the region are fully vaccinated.
61% of staff in health and seniors care working in hospitals, municipalities, and as ambulance paramedics have received a first vaccination dose while 30% are fully vaccinated.
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Sweden has added 19,105 infections and another 39 corona deaths since its last update on Friday.
To date, 1,495,026 1st dose (18.3% of the population) and 624,864 2nd dose (7.6%) vaccinations have been administered.
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People in the Uppsala region north of Stockholm are being urged to adopt a “personal lockdown.” They should work from home, avoid public transit, and limit contact with others as infections spread. Health officials say pressure is building on hospitals with the U.K. variant accounting for 70% of all new infections in the region while the South African variant covers 10%.
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Finland has registered 286 infections and three more deaths since yesterday’s update. It continues to wrestle down its infection curve.
COVID hospitalizations (182) are down (-3) while ICU numbers (38) also eased (-4).
On the vaccination front to date, 1,156,058 1st vaccine doses (20.7% of the population) have been administered while 97,523 people (1.7%) are now fully vaccinated.
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Norway has added 681 infections and one more virus death since yesterday’s update.
COVID hospitalizations (267) are down (-20). ICU numbers (75) are also down (-5). Those on a ventilator (57) edged up (+1).
As for the vaccination campaign, to date 16.21% of Norwegians have had a first vaccination dose while 5.50% have had both.
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The Norwegian Institute of Public Health says a very small percentage of fully vaccinated people in the country have tested positive for COVID. With 296,141 fully vaccinated people in the study only 199 tested positive, about 0.07%, after being vaccinated.
Institute Department Director Karianne Johansen.
“Vaccines never provide 100% protection against infection. This means that even if a person has been fully vaccinated against coronavirus, some can still get the virus.”
Johansen notes of the tiny percentage of those vaccinated who tested positive few had symptoms and in almost every case they were mild.
“Serious illness is rare, but when it does occur, it is important to do further research to understand what may have been the cause.”
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According to numbers compiled by Agence France-Presse, Europe passed one-million coronavirus deaths yesterday. This comes as the World Health Organization warns of exponential global infection growth saying the pandemic has reached a “critical point.”
Within Europe, the U.K, Italy, Russia (numbers vastly under-reported), France, Germany, and Spain have the most virus deaths.
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Public Health Canada said today it has received a report of blood-clotting after an individual was vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. This marks the first such report in the country. On March 29th use of AstraZeneca in Canada was prohibited for those under the age of 55.
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Yesterday Canada reported 10,858 new infections and 41 new deaths but only 8,541 infections and 27 deaths occurred in the previous 24 hours due to B.C. reporting three days of catch up data yesterday.
On the vaccination campaign to date, there have been 7,515,239 1st dose vaccinations (19.77% of the population while 815,659 people are now fully vaccinated.
Both Alberta and Ontario continue to add U.K. corona variant infections at an alarming rate according to the latest Government of Canada update.
Today Ontario’s Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted, “Ontario is reporting 3,670 cases of #COVID19 and nearly 42,200 tests completed. Locally, there are 1,016 new cases in Toronto, 613 in Peel, 519 in York Region, 214 in Ottawa and 196 in Durham. As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 3,310,157 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.“ Ontario also recorded another record high number of people in an ICU (626) and a record high positivity percentage 10.3%.
Quebec recorded 1,490 new infections and 12 more virus deaths today. Hospitalizations stand at 643 with 150 people in an ICU.
In Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia has six new infections. Newfoundland and Labrador one. New Brunswick has yet to report. Premiers of the Atlantic provinces are indicating plans to reopen the ‘Atlantic bubble’ may have to be delayed as infection activity increases.
Manitoba continues to see triple digit infections. It reported 114 new infections and no new deaths yesterday. The province is considering tightening restrictions as numbers rise.
There were 300 new infections and one death reported in Saskatchewan yesterday.
Alberta reported 1,136 new infections and five more deaths yesterday. There are 390 people in hospital with 90 in an ICU. Variants continue to dominate, accounting for over 50% of all active cases.
In B.C., there were 3,289 infections reported over the last three days. 1,283 on Friday, 1,036 Saturday, and 970 on Sunday as the province’s infection curve continues to march upward. Hospitalizations rose by 11% over the weekend and are up 53% since April 1st. There were 18 more virus deaths.
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Two studies in The Lancet found no evidence the U.K. variant (B.1.1.7.) worsened overall corona symptoms or increased the risk of developing long COVID (symptoms suffered over a period of months after recovery) compared with different strains. However, viral load and R (reproductive or reinfection) numbers were higher, suggesting the variant is more transmissible. The good news is that the studies found the variant is not resistant to existing vaccines and that current testing regimes are catching the variants.
Multiple studies from the U.K, Denmark, Canada, and elsewhere have already determined the variant is much more infectious than other strains and results in a higher chance of hospitalization.
