Sweden introduces COVID-19 vaccine pass for indoor events
FILE PHOTO: A few people visit the Frölunda Torg shopping center in Gothenburg. / CFP
FILE PHOTO: A few people visit the Frölunda Torg shopping center in Gothenburg. / CFP
Sweden will introduce a vaccination pass for coronavirus on December 1 for public indoor events consisting of over 100 people, the government announced on Wednesday.
The move, recommended by health officials, is a response to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases across Europe, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson describing it as a “new wave”.
Although Sweden has not yet reported such an increase, forecast models from the health authority predict that infections will reach a peak in mid-December.
– The spread is increasing in Europe. We have not seen it yet in Sweden, but we are not isolated, says Sweden’s Minister of Health Lena Hallengren to journalists.
“We must be able to use vaccination certificates.”
Sweden currently has the lowest number of patients with covid-19 in hospitals and intensive care in the EU, compared with the size of the population, according to statistics from OurWorldinData.
Sweden had sometimes been hit hard earlier during the pandemic but chose not to carry out shutdowns and relied mostly on voluntary measures aimed at social distancing.
Sweden reported several times more deaths per capita than its Nordic neighbors, but lower than many European countries that carried out strict closures.
(With input from agencies)