Denmark to vaccinate homeless population along with priority groups in Phase 1

Almost 3% of Danes have now received at least one immunization shot since the program started shortly after Christmas.

Denmark has added homeless people to the list of those set to be vaccinated against Covid-19 early on, as the country barrels ahead of the rest of the European Union in inoculating its population.

Police escort a van for the transport of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) after it left the Statens Serum Institut (SSI) in Copenhagen (AFP)

Almost 3% of Danes have now received at least one immunization shot since the program started shortly after Christmas. Still, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told lawmakers on Tuesday that a lockdown currently set to stay in place until Feb. 7 may need to be extended, amid concerns of a potential third wave of infections.

Denmark, like many other countries, is grappling with the U.K. variant of the virus, which has proved to be considerably more contagious. The reproduction rate of the new strain is 1.16, according to a report published by Danish authorities on Tuesday. That’s almost twice the overall transmission rate of the virus, which has dropped to 0.6, Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said in a tweet.

Heunicke has previously said he expects the U.K. variant to become the dominant strain as early as next month.