The big question most unvaccinated Danes are asking each other around the water cooler today is: “Knowing what you know, would you have the AstraZeneca jab today if you could.”
Denmark yesterday became the first country in the world to completely discard the British-Swedish vaccination in light of the confirmation of the European Medicines Agency that it can cause blood clots, which means the country won’t be entirely protected against COVID-19 until mid-August.
With the deliveries of the Johnson & Johnson vaccination also suspended, after the discovery of similar blood clots among at least six recipients in the US, some experts are warning it won’t be until Christmas until the country is fully covered.
No, Nanny State, we decide!
When you live in a country where the welfare state is so supportive from cradle to coffin, complaints about the Nanny State are hard to take seriously.
Nevertheless, Lone Svanekaer, a care worker, yesterday argued she should be able to choose whether she can have the AstraZeneca jab, not the government, reports DR.
“Yes please, just send me a new message in e-Boks. It must be soon,” she wrote on Facebook, pointing out that she’d already had the first AstraZeneca jab, and that it had gone splendidly.
“I would like that vaccine finished because I am a front staff member and am in contact with a lot of people every day. I need to get an end to this now. There is a greater risk of spider mites getting corona! I would rather have the vaccine than have corona again,” she added.
Her colleague Emil Kraaer chimed in: “If I get it, there is a very small risk of blood clots. But if I do not get it, I am absolutely sure that society will open up later for both me and others.”
Nevertheless, both respect the government’s decision. “In view of the bigger picture, I agree with the health authorities. I’m just saying that they could give me a choice so I could choose for myself,” said Svanekaer.
Blue Bloc: Let Danish adults decide for themselves!
Blue bloc politicians support the view that the public should be able to choose for themselves – particularly if they have already had the first AstraZeneca jab.
“The Danes are adults who can make such decisions on an informed basis. It will give vaccinated individuals more freedom and society a faster path to reopening,” wrote Liberal Alliance leader Alex Vanopslagh on Twitter.
Konservative spokesperson Mette Abildgaard claimed she had already heard from “several’ recipients of the first AstraZeneca jab who would like the second.
“It is important that we get to use the available vaccines if there are Danes who want to get an AstraZeneca vaccine,” she said, according to DR.
“Among those who have received the first jab, there are definitely some who want the second jab and to have their vaccination completed.”
Sundhedsstyrelsen: Unlikely vaccine will ever be offered
Søren Brostrøm, the head of the Sundhedsstyrelsen health authority, would not rule out the possibility at the press conference yesterday (where one of the presenters dramatically fainted on stage) where the decision to discard AstraZeneca was confirmed, but he said it was unlikely.
“I have not said that it is not possible. I just have a hard time seeing a mass vaccination rollout like the ones we have seen in Denmark,” he said. “I have not seen other countries do it as part of their rollout.”
He was dismissive that ‘many’ people wanted it.
27 cases could be linked to AstraZeneca
In related news according to TV2 this morning, the Danish Medicines Agency (DMA) has processed 27 reports of blood clots among people in Denmark who have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca.
However, in 25 of the cases the agency cannot be sure the clots were caused by AstraZeneca.
According to Sundhedsstyrelsen, one in 40,000 risk being affected by a rare condition in connection with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Overall, 149,000 people in Denmark received the first AstraZeneca jab.
A cluster of clots in her right lung
One of the 25 cases the DMA is unsure about was Nyborg nurse Tina Sylvester Rohmann, 43, who told TV2 she became unwell on the same day she was vaccinated. She had a high temperature, felt tired and had joint pain – like “poison had been injected” into her body.
Then two weeks later she developed a sore throat and suddenly found she was struggling to breathe. Further tests revealed that her blood pressure and pulse were well above average. At the cardiac ward at Svendborg Hospital it was suspected she had been hit by a blood clot.
However, nothing was concluded until tests were carried out on Rohmann’s lungs, which revealed a cluster of clots in the lower part of her right lung.
Since then Rohmann has started to recover, but she is not well enough to return to full-time work. She is pleased that AstraZeneca has been discarded.
“As a population, we must have great confidence in the healthcare system. We must trust that they have chosen the AstraZeneca vaccine because they want the best for us and only take the best,” she said.
