Denmark Sees Record COVID-19 Morbidity While Professor Warns of Further Spread

Despite having vaccinated 88 percent of its adult population, Denmark is seeing a steep spike in infections, which has already prompted the government to roll back some of the restrictions and reintroduce COVID passports.

Denmark is currently seeing the highest number of new COVID-19 infections since the start of 2021, according to new figures from the State Serum Institute (SSI).

On 15 November, SSI announced 3,670 new cases – the highest figure since 18 December 2020, when 4,508 new cases were reported.

The epidemic is growing nationwide. The worst is in the Capital Region, but infection rate growth in other regions now exceeds growth in the Capital Region now,” SSI spokesperson Rebecca Legarth said.

According to the SSI report, the infection rates are highest among unvaccinated youths (aged 12-19) and school children (aged 6-11).

According to the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC), the increase in the incidence in Denmark occurred after the successful introduction of the vaccine: over 88 percent of the country's adult population are fully vaccinated.

Additional SSI figures revealed that the share of new cases among people who have been fully vaccinated is also on the rise. The 38,587 infections among vaccinated people have so far led to 1,231 hospitalisations and 158 deaths. Overall, 0.93 percent of the fully vaccinated have become infected.

According to Aarhus University professor Lars Østergaard, chief physician at Aarhus University Hospital, the number of the infected is likely to rise further. This is due to the fact that it will take some time before the renewed COVID measures achieve the desired effect, TV2 reported.

Just two months ago, Denmark became the first European country to lift all remaining domestic restrictions on coronavirus, as the government announced that COVID-19 is no longer a “society-critical disease”.

However, the optimism of mid-September appeared short-lived, as Denmark is now struggling with increasing infections that jumped by more than an order of magnitude from the low 200s in September to over 3,000 today.

The drastic spike spurred Denmark to roll back some of the measures, including the COVID passport requirement at indoor venues with a capacity of 200, but also all restaurants, nightlife venues and places frequented by vulnerable people, such as hospitals and care centres.