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 Initially, Denmark will only offer Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19
vaccine for 12-15 year-olds, as it is the only vaccine approved by
the EU's drug regulator for use in adolescents, the Danish Health
Authority said in a statement.
In late May, the EU's drug regulator cleared Pfizer and BioNTech's
COVID-19 vaccine for use in children as young as 12 and expects to
announce its decision on the use of Moderna's shot in adolescents
sometime next month.
"An expansion of the target group to the 12-15-year-olds is
necessary to ensure even greater immunity in the population, and
thus ensure control of the epidemic in Denmark," the head of the
Danish Health Authority, Soren Brostrom, said.
Vaccination of adolescents would begin after the last adults have
been fully vaccinated in mid-September, Brostrom told a press
briefing.
"We need the immunity of the population, especially before a winter
season," he said.
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 Denmark made waves when it
announced in April and May it would cease to
administer vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and
Johnson & Johnson to adults over a potential
link to a rare but serious form of blood clot.
The Nordic country's government has since asked
health authorities to reconsider the exclusion
of those vaccines since new data on their
effects and side-effects have been reported.
Almost half of Denmark's population has received
a first vaccine shot while more than a quarter
are completely inoculated.
(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard;Editing by
Alison Williams, Robert Birsel)
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