Sweden extends COVID booster shots to everyone who is 65 years or older
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Sweden will start offering covid-19 boostershots to people who are 65 years or older and many healthcare professionals and plans to gradually expand the third effort to most Swedes in the coming months, the government said on Wednesday.
Booster shots of mRNA vaccine will gradually be extended to include all people in the Nordic country who are 16 years or older during the winter and spring, said Minister of Health Lena Hallengren at a press conference.
“It is because so many have been vaccinated that we can live our lives a little more as usual,” said Hallengren. “Now we offer booster shots to 1.5 million more.”
The care staff that would be offered boosters included all employees in home care, nursing homes and support housing programs.
Infections remain at fairly low levels four weeks after almost all restrictions and recommendations have been abolished in Sweden. Still, deaths have slowly begun to increase after a slow summer, pushing tolls during the pandemic above the 15,000 mark this week. [L8N2RL2TZ]
“According to studies, we are noticing a declining antibody effect. We saw during the summer that we had outbreaks in nursing homes,” says Johan Carlson, head of the Swedish Public Health Agency. “A third dose results in a significant increase in antibodies.”
Previously, people living in nursing homes and those aged 80 or older were entitled to a booster syringe six months after the second dose. About 85% of all Swedes aged 16 or older have received a vaccine and 80% have received two injections or more.
In recent weeks, vaccinations have also been offered to children in the age group 12-15 years, although only relatively few have been inoculated so far.
(Reportage by Johan Ahlander; editing by Niklas Pollard)