A new wave of COVID-19 infections has hit Denmark’s nursing homes.
According to the Statens Serum Institut, last week there were 262 confirmed infections among the country’s nursing home residents – more than a doubling compared to the week before.
In response, the Elderly Case, a non-profit organization working to improve conditions for the elderly, has urged the government to immediately administer booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Winter will be the toughest period, and we must ensure that the elderly are able to complete their booster shots before then, instead of waiting for the number of infections to increase,” says Michael Teit Nielsen, Deputy Director of the Elderly Case , in an interview. with DR.
Urgent need for booster vaccines
Despite the rising infection – and the prayers from the Elderly Case – the Danish government has not announced plans to move up in the rollout of the fourth jab, which is currently to be administered to the elderly on 15 September.
As it stands, the Minister of Health’s stated ambition to let the pandemic lie in the past before the end of 2022 may be difficult to achieve.
Spokesmen for several parties, for example, have strongly condemned the government for the continued impact of COVID-19 on waiting times. According to TV2The waiting time for a heart rhythm disorder at Aarhus University Hospital is currently 83 weeks – the average waiting time before the pandemic was four weeks.
Furthermore, the World Health Organization has warned that “a challenging autumn and a challenging winter” are on the way and reports that declining awareness of the pandemic has caused cases to rise again.
Source: The Nordic Page