WITH ICELAND’S POPULATION NEARING RECORD LEVELS OF VACCINATED POPULATION, THIS NEWS IS CAUSING SURPRISE IN THE NATION:
Iceland, one of the first countries in the world to abolish all COVID-19 restrictions for vaccinated tourists, may see recently reimposed safety protocols in place for 15 years, according to one of the Nordic country’s chief medical experts.
Despite the overwhelming majority of Iceland’s adult population having been vaccinated, chief epidemiologist Thorolfur Gudnason said he cannot rule out that reintroduced COVID-19 restrictions may become necessary for many years to come.
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His comments come amid a rapid rise of the Delta strain, with the fully vaccinated making up a large proportion of the new infections.
“It can happen, no one knows what the future holds,” Gudnason told local newspaper Morgunbladid. “That is what we have been saying all along, that there is no predictability in this.”
Thorolfur Gudnason saidthat the COVID-19 epidemic will not end in Iceland until it is abolished all over the world.
He also admitted that the vaccine protection against infection was lower, maintained that the defense against serious illnesses was still estimated at 90 percent.
On 26 June, the Icelandic authorities chose to remove all domestic restrictions, prompting media outlets across the globe to hail it as the country that vanquished coronavirus. At that time, not a single case of COVID-19 had been registered in several weeks, and no deaths since December of last year had occurred.
The bottom line: Despite 90% of adults / 70% of the full population in Iceland having being vaccinated, Covid cases have recently rocketed.
