Sweden offers third COVID shot to elderly, healthcare staff – CBS17.com
Posted:
Updated:
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Sweden, which has stood out among European nations for its comparatively practical response to the pandemic, announced on Wednesday that it will offer a third vaccine to people 65 years and older as well as to health care and nursing home staff.
Minister of Social Affairs Lena Hallengren said that 1.5 million Swedes will receive a booster dose six months after their second vaccination. Johan Carlson, head of the Public Health Agency, added that everyone up to the age of 16 will eventually be offered a third jap.
Sweden has not entered into a closure or closed company, but instead relies on citizens’ sense of civic duty to control infections. On Tuesday, the country passed 15,000 virus-related deaths.
In neighboring Denmark, a third vaccine against coronavirus has been offered to the elderly, health care and nursing home staff and people who are particularly at increased risk.
Norway recommends that residents aged 65 and over receive a booster dose at least six months after the second vaccine.
Norway has seen new infections increase. In the last 24 hours, it reported 1,144 new cases of covid-19, which is almost twice as much as a week ago.
– If there is a large increase in the spread of infection locally or nationally, which means a high burden on health care, the municipalities must be prepared to limit the spread of infection through local measures. It may also be relevant to introduce national measures, says Norway’s Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol.
The city of Tromsø in northern Norway saw a new 59 cases in the last 24 hours, a local record.
– The wave of infection comes here first and we do not know why, says Trond Brattland, chief physician for infection control in the largest city in Arctic Norway, to the Norwegian TV channel NRK.
___
Follow all AP stories about the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic