Þórólfur Guðnason | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Icelandic |
Education |
University of Iceland 1981 University of Connecticut 1988 University of Minnesota 1990 |
Medical career | |
Field | Infectious Disease Control |
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]
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]
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]