Sweden will increase vaccination work as the jab drive slows down
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden will increase efforts to get more people to be vaccinated against COVID -19 ahead of a flagging inoculation operation, with authorities warning on Wednesday that the unvaccinated may have to live with restrictions longer.
More than 80% of Swedes aged 16 and up – the group who are entitled to the vaccines – have been shot and almost 75% are fully vaccinated. However, some neighborhoods, mainly low-income areas and areas with a higher foreign-born population, remain in the rest of the country.
Sweden’s vaccine intake is on a par with large parts of Western Europe, but significantly lower than stand-outs such as neighboring Denmark.
– More efforts are needed to make vaccine coverage even higher and more equal, says Minister of Health and Social Affairs Lena Hallengren at a press conference.
“We do not want empty spaces on the vaccination map in Sweden. Everyone has the right to the protection we know the vaccine offers.”
Hallengren said that 40 million Swedish kronor (4.67 million dollars) would be used to produce more information about vaccines and measures such as buses that offer drop-in vaccination hatches in areas with low uptake.
Sweden has avoided lockdowns throughout the pandemic and has instead mostly relied on voluntary measures. The country will lift almost all remaining restrictions and recommendations in two weeks, but the health authority warned that those who choose not to receive the shot would still have to follow guidelines.
“Not being vaccinated means that you can not return to the everyday life we had before 2020. The public health authority will soon return with special advice and instructions for the unvaccinated,” says the head of the health authority Johan Carlson.
Sweden’s death toll per capita from the virus during the pandemic is much higher than among its Nordic neighbors, but lower than most European countries that chose lockdowns.
($ 1 = 8.5719 Swedish kronor)
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander; editing by Niklas Pollard)