Þórólfur Guðnason

Þórólfur Guðnason (born 28 October 1953) is an Icelandic doctor who serverd as the Chief Epidemiologist of the Icelandic Directorate of Health from 2015 to 2022.[1][2] He was one of the lead members of the Iceland's Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in Iceland, along with Alma Möller and Víðir Reynisson.[3][4]

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Þórólfur.
Þórólfur Guðnason
Born (1953-10-28) 28 October 1953
Iceland
NationalityIcelandic
EducationUniversity of Iceland 1981
University of Connecticut 1988
University of Minnesota 1990
Medical career
FieldInfectious Disease Control

Early life and education

Þórólfur grew up in Eskifjörður and later in Vestmannaeyjar where he lived until the age of 19.[3]

He specialized in pediatrics and pediatric infectious disease.[2] In 2013 he defended his doctoral thesis on the epidemiology of pneumococcal infections in young Icelandic children.[2]

Career

Chief Epidemiologist of Iceland

The vaccination of Icelandic children aged 12 to 15 began on August 22, 2021, with only the Pfizer/BioNTech used, with Chief Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason stating to the public that vaccinating children was "the right thing to do".[5] By November 9, 2021, 300,000 people had received a booster shot in Iceland, or 76% of the total population, and of those people, 10 had contracted COVID. Guðnason stated that of the around 270,000 people who were fully vaccinated, 4,500 or 1.6% had contracted COVID. At the time, eligible age groups did not include those under 12 years old.[6]

See also

References
  1. Gunnar Gunnarsson (13 March 2020). "Eskfirðingur í eldlínunni". Austurfrétt (in Icelandic). Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  2. "Nýr sóttvarnalæknir". The Directorate of Health (in Icelandic). 10 August 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  3. Einar Þór Sigurðsson (22 March 2020). "Nærmynd af Þórólfi: "Hann hefur alltaf komið manni til aðstoðar"". Fréttablaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  4. Sunna Kristín Hilmarsdóttir (13 March 2020). "Vinna vel saman á óraunverulegum tímum en eru oftast ósammála við upphaf verkefna". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  5. Vala Hafstað (August 23, 2021). "COVID-19 Vaccination of Children Begins in Iceland". Iceland Monitor.
  6. Jelena Ćirić (November 9, 2021). "COVID-19 Booster Shots Could Help Iceland Reach Herd Immunity". Iceland Review.


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