Pregnant women given green light for vaccines

The health minister has greenlighted Covid vaccinations for pregnant and breastfeeding women on recommendation from the vaccination committee.

“No regulatory changes are required for this adjustment to the vaccination programme, so we will be offering vaccines to pregnant and breastfeeding women with immediate effect,” says health minister Kaj Leo Holm Johannesen.

This comes after Denmark last week decided to offer vaccines to this group, having reviewed safety documentation from other countries that have vaccinated pregnant women.

Children also considered for vaccines

The vaccination committee has also recommended that the government opens vaccinations for the 12-15 age group.

“This change requires a change in our vaccine regulations,” says the minister.

“We are expecting to arrive at a decision regarding this age group within the next two weeks.”

Vaccinations picking up pace

The number of people registering for vaccines has increased in the past couple of days.

“More than 700 people were vaccinated in Tórshavn and Klaksvík yesterday, and about the same number are signed up for today. This is above the daily average in recent weeks,” says Margit Stórá, COO of the National Hospital, who is a member of the vaccination committee.

“We already have about 500 registrations for Monday, the first vaccination day after ólavsøka. So it looks like the vaccinations are picking up pace, which is great.”

New Covid cases

Two new covid cases were registered on Sunday and six yesterday.

Details on Sunday’s cases have not yet been published. All six who tested positive yesterday were infected domestically. Five are linked to known chains of infection, while the infection source of one person has yet to be identified.

The daily numbers of positive tests over the past week have been as follows: 8, 9, 7, 5, 1, 2 and 6.

 >> SEE ALSO A more proactive vaccination approach after ólavsøka

There are currently 65 active Covid cases in the country. Two people are receiving hospital treatment for Covid-19, and 164 people are listed as being in quarantine.

According to the latest vaccination figures on corona.fo, updated today, 34,555 people (64.8 percent of the population) have received the first shot of the vaccine, while 28,414 (53.3 percent) have received the second shot.

Register for vaccines

Plenty of vaccine doses are available to everyone aged 16 and over.

Click here to book your vaccination appointment.

Those requiring assistance with filling in the forms can call 304545 on weekdays between 2pm and 4pm. Questions can also be directed to the Corona hotline (304040), open Mondays-Thursdays 10am-3pm.

For further information about Covid-19 in the Faroes, visit corona.fo.

Read the Faroese versions of this article here and here.

Translated by prosa.fo.

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