Second vaccine shots now prioritised over first

The vaccination group yesterday decided to revise the national vaccination strategy due to uncertainties in vaccine supplies.

A batch consisting of some 1,300 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines will arrive tonight.

Most of these doses will be used as follow-up shots for those who have already received their first shot, rather than as initial doses as originally planned.

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About 100 people in groups 3 and 4 in the vaccination schedule have yet to receive their initial shot and will be receiving it once the new batch arrives. These groups consist of people in at-risk groups and relatives who provide essential care to these people.

Group 5 – people aged 65 or over who live at home but require help with daily activities – were due to receive their first shots now. But they will now need to wait a while.

The vaccination group says this is an unfortunate but necessary step to ensure that the effectivity of the vaccines already administered is not compromised by extending the interval between the first and second shots too much.

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Denmark, which supplies vaccines to the Faroes, has also started its follow-up vaccination rounds.

Vaccine manufacturer Pfizer/BioNTech recommends a three-week interval between the first and the second dose.

However, Danish and Faroese health authorities opted for a six-week interval when vaccinations started in late December, partly to get as many at-risk people as possible vaccinated and partly due to high levels of effectiveness from the initial dose.

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Both the Danish and the Faroese health authorities have now reverted to the recommended three-week interval.

Despite this change, Faroese health authorities believe that the supply uncertainties will be solved by the end of the winter. An increasing number of vaccines are being approved these days, and supplies of those already on the market are expected to pick up soon, according to the vaccination group.

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

Read the Faroese version of this article here

Translated by prosa.fo

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