Danish health authorities are currently studying whether it makes sense to continue recommending that children aged 5 to 11 years be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
This is according to a statement by Soren Broström, director of the State Serum Institute, to the newspaper Politiken, who explained that the reassessment of the recommendation is currently underway for two reasons, as it is partly due to the difference between Omicron and Delta, and also because Omicron has caused fewer cases when it comes to hospital admissions due to the virus.
Proström also told the media that the season is about to change from winter to spring and the infection curve will break due to the population's increased immunity.
Back in November of last year, the Public Health Agency recommended that parents allow their children aged 5 to 11 to be vaccinated, as there seemed to be a need for increased immunity among children. Søren Broström confirmed that this was the right decision at the time, stating that "the institute never doubted it." At that time, the infection was particularly prevalent in that age group, with children transmitting the virus to parents and grandparents who were at risk of severe illness from the delta variant. Children also contributed a few percentage points to the overall population immunity, which is why COVID-19 is no longer considered a serious social threat, Broström told Politiken.
Sweden and Norway do not recommend childhood vaccinations.
While Denmark has recommended vaccination for children aged 5 to 11, this is not the case in neighboring Nordic countries, as both Norwegian and Swedish health authorities do not recommend coronavirus vaccines for children in that age group.
It is worth noting that 41.81 million Danish children aged 5 to 11 years have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 31.91 million have received the full vaccination (two doses). Last November, Danish health authorities had hoped to vaccinate 701 million children in that age group with COVID-19 vaccines.
