Þórólfur Guðnason (born 28 October 1953) is an Icelandic doctor who serverd as the Chief Epidemiologist of the Icelandic
Directorate of Health
The Directorate of Health ( Icelandic: ''Embætti landlæknis'') is an Icelandic government agency which principal role is to promote high-quality and safe health care for the people of Iceland, health promotion, and effective disease prevention ...
from 2015 2022.
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
The COVID-19 pandemic in Iceland is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Iceland in February 2020. , the total ...
, along with
Alma Möller
Alma Dagbjört Möller (born 24 June 1961) is an Icelandic doctor. On 1 April 2018 she became the first woman to serve as the Director of Health since the office was established in 1760. Since February 2020, she has been one of the lead members ...
and
Víðir Reynisson.
Early life and education
Þórólfur grew up in
Eskifjörður
Eskifjörður (in original spelling; ), or Eskifjördur is a town and port in eastern Iceland with a large fishing industry. With a population of 1,043 it is one of the most populous towns in the municipality of Fjarðabyggð.
History
Eskifjörðu ...
and later in
Vestmannaeyjar
Vestmannaeyjar (, sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland.
The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,414, most of whom live in the archipelago's main town, Vestmannaeyj ...
where he lived until the age of 19.
He specialized in
pediatrics and pediatric
infectious disease
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable di ...
.
In 2013 he defended his doctoral thesis on the epidemiology of
pneumococcal infections in young Icelandic children.
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".
By November 9, 2021, 30,000 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.
See also
*
COVID-19 vaccination in Iceland
References
1953 births
Living people
20th-century Icelandic physicians
21st-century Icelandic physicians
Thorolfur Gudnason
Thorolfur Gudnason
Thorolfur Gudnason
Thorolfur Gudnason
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