Denmark appears to have beaten COVID-19. For now. But how did they do it?
An editorial in one of Denmark’s largest newspapers, Politiken, trumpeted: “September 10 is a special day, a day of joy… We’re back to normal.”
That statement, although met with skepticism by some, was based on the decision by the Danish Government to lift the last of its domestic pandemic-era restrictions, confidently claiming that the novel coronavirus is no longer a “critical threat to society”.
The Scandinavian nation’s announcement offers the promise of a vision of a future without COVID-19 restrictions; that is if the situation holds, and the country has not gone ahead of itself, after nearly 550 days of pandemic-weary existence.
Restrictions on travel to Denmark will remain in place, a precautionary action, but the remaining mask mandates have been removed everywhere but the airport. There will also be no need for the country’s digital vaccine passport to enter bars, restaurants, nightclubs, or stadia.
Danish authorities say the achievement has been based on high vaccination rates, with nearly 75 percent of residents fully immunized, strong epidemic control, and “because the entire population has made an enormous effort to achieve this”.
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Vaccination rates are high — 86 percent of all eligible citizens 12 and older have received at least one shot, and 95 percent of people 50 and older are fully vaccinated.
The CDC says vaccines continue to offer strong protection against the most severe forms of the disease, citing three studies that highlight the continued effectiveness of all three approved vaccines in the US.
The CDC insisted that the vaccines are doing what they should do — protecting people from severe disease and death. It said unvaccinated people were five times as likely to be infected, 10 times as likely to be hospitalised, and 10 times more likely to die than fully vaccinated people.
