Children Aged 5-11 to Be Vaccinated Next Week

Children aged 5-11 will be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Reykjavík next week, Morgunblaðið reports. The vaccination, originally scheduled in schools, will instead take place at the Laugardalshöll sports center.

The main reason Laugardalshöll was chosen for the vaccination is a shortage of healthcare workers, states Ragnheiður Ósk Erlendsdóttir, managing director of nursing at the Capital Area Health Clinics.

She states that between 80 and 100 people call in sick every day, due to COVID-19, and the numbers keep rising. Vaccinations will be administered between noon and 6 pm. That way, children will be able to attend school in the morning and get the afternoon off.

At a press conference yesterday, Chief Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason mentioned that in the coming days, rules might be changed regarding the quarantine of people who have received a booster shot of the vaccine. There has been much discussion lately regarding problems arising in society due to thousands of workers being unable to go to work because of quarantine requirements.

People who are diagnosed with COVID-19 in Iceland can obtain information regarding which variant of the virus they’re infected with. To do so, they need to fill out a form on the website of the Directorate of Health and then send it to the Directorate’s reception. Work is underway to simplify the process, with the aim of making the information accessible on heilsuvera.is.