The Number Of Admissions Is Falling – And This Could Create A Problem When Denmark Opens Again

The herd immunity can be created through, for example, vaccines – which are not yet found against covid-19 – but also by people being infected and building antibodies to the disease.

In a way, we do not want some people to get very sick and die, and on the other hand, the more people who come out on the other side as immune, the faster we get closer that the coronavirus cannot find people to infect, and that way the infection disappears, says Søren Riis Paludan.

WHO: Too many will die if herd immunity is the goal

But creating herd immunity also has consequences, and that underscores Mette Frederiksen’s difficult choices.

The World Health Organization, the WHO, warns against trying to create herd immunity because, according to the organization, it will cost many lives.

Instead, massive testing and isolation of infected people should be initiated now and when society begins to open. So says Astrid Iversen, a professor of virology and immunology at Oxford University and a supporter of WHO’s strategy.

If 60 percent of all Danes are infected, about two percent will die. That’s over 67,000 people. And they will die unnecessarily, says Astrid Iversen to TV 2.

However, there is much discussion about how many die from covid-19 and how it is calculated. According to the Danish authorities , the real mortality rate can be between 0.3-1 per cent.

The Oxford University professor adds that, according to her, there is no evidence that the infected will be immune for a long time, and therefore she does not believe there is anything to be gained by the Danes infecting each other. On the contrary.

Therefore, it is a risky and suspicious experiment with the entire population’s life and health, she says.

But Allan Randrup does not believe that it is possible to contain and eradicate the infectious disease.

There is no doubt that it will be a difficult process and there will be people dying from it, but we have no alternative, says Allan Randrup Thomsen, adding:

It’s like a ship captain maneuvering in a dangerous water. It is about trying to navigate through, so that we protect the at-risk groups and those who are most at risk of dying, while at the same time gaining an appropriate degree of herd immunity.

Far from herd immunity

Among other things, the country’s blood donors must now help the health authorities get an overview of how many Danes have been infected with coronavirus – and thus probably have developed immunity.

The blood banks in the Capital Region and Central Jutland have already tested for antibodies this week, and the other regions are expected to follow later. It is among the tests that 27 out of 1000 blood donors were found to have produced antibodies to coronavirus.

If these figures are indicative, it means that there is a very long way to go against herd immunity against coronavirus in Denmark.

A low herd immunity means that the infection is more likely to spread epidemically and thus be more severe. Therefore, the first figures of the study must be taken very seriously when we can see so far that the herd immunity among the first tested is as low as it is, says Henrik Ullum, chief physician and professor at the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, in a press release.

Allan Randrup estimates that about 5,000 randomly selected Danes must be tested so that we know how far we are from herd immunity.

A total of 4369 Danes have been found infected with coronavirus in Denmark. However, a significant dark figure is expected.

Source: nyheder.tv2.dk