Years of advance planning and investment have contributed to Denmark's ability to roll out Covid-19 vaccines ahead of Ireland, according to an Irish academic based in the country.
Denmark, a European country with a population comparative to Ireland in size, has said that all its citizens will vaccinated against the coronavirus by June 27th.
Dr Graham Butler, an associate professor of law at Aarhus University, said the Danish rollout is progressing quickly due to the efficiency of its system.
“One of the benefits they have is an extremely efficient system, but I should say the efficiency and the digitalisation of infrastructure that surrounds it is not something that’s been drawn up in the last 12 months,” Dr Butler said.
“It’s been years of advanced planning and investment into the modernisation of their health facilities.”
According to the latest figures available on Our World in Data, a project based at the University at Oxford tracking the global rollout of coronavirus vaccines, some 485,201 vaccines had been administered in Denmark as of February 20th.
In the Republic of Ireland, the latest figures from the Department of Health show 340,704 doses had been administered as of February 19th, including 214,384 first doses and 126,320 second doses.
The HSE has said at least 100,000 people will be vaccinated in the Republic this week.
Speaking on Monday, health service chief Paul Reid said the Republic was on course to be able to vaccinate 1 million people a month from April onwards, if supplies ordered arrived on time.
It is projected that 1.24 million people would be vaccinated in the first quarter of the year, followed by 3.8 million people between April and June, he said.
The Government is expected to announce changes to the State’s vaccine rollout schedule on Tuesday, with people suffering from respiratory illnesses likely to be offered earlier vaccination.
The Department of Health has been asked for a review into the sequencing of the vaccine rollout, which could see people with certain underlying conditions moved up the priority list.
Meanwhile, an immunologist at University College Cork has said that Ireland needs to rethink its immunisation strategy given new findings in relation to the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine, which would allow more people get their first dose sooner.
