Sweden will stop offering Covid vaccines to teenagers
The Public Health Agency has said it no longer recommends that children aged 12 to 17 be vaccinated against Covid-19, citing the “very low risk” for the group.
The new recommendation comes into force on 31 October.
“The decision means that as of November 1, 2022, only children in certain vulnerable groups are recommended to receive and thereby be offered vaccinations against Covid-19,” says the authority.
Britain lifted its vaccine recommendation for healthy children under 11 earlier this month.
“Overall, we see that the need for care as a result of Covid-19 has been low among children and young people… and has also decreased since the Omicron variant began to spread,” says Sören Andersson, head of the Public Health Agency’s vaccination. department, the statement said.
For those over 18, the Swedish recommendation is three doses, of which a fourth is recommended for those over 65.
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The country made global headlines when it refused to implement draconian measures as other countries around the world went into lockdown.
Sweden saw a small increase in the number of deaths during the summer, but the number is now falling.
After having a high death toll at the beginning of the pandemic, the Nordic country now has fewer deaths per capita than the European average.
Italy drops Covid-19 face mask rule for public transport
Italians will no longer have to wear face masks on public transport, the health ministry said, in the latest easing of rules against the coronavirus pandemic.
The ministry said a decree requiring the wearing of masks on trains, buses and ferries, which expires today, would not be renewed.
However, the obligation was extended for hospitals and nursing homes.
Italy is one of the countries worst hit by the pandemic, having reported more than 177,000 deaths from Covid-19 since the start of the outbreak in early 2020.
As Australia ends Covid emergency preparedness, doctors warn of risks to the public
Australia will end mandatory five-day home quarantine for people with Covid-19 on October 14, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, although some doctors warned the move would put the public at risk.
The decision to let Covid-infected Australians decide whether or not they need to be isolated removes one of the country’s last remaining restrictions from the pandemic, and comes about a month after the quarantine period was cut to five days from seven.
“We want a policy that promotes resilience and capacity building and reduces reliance on state intervention,” Albanese told reporters after a meeting with the national government today.
Pandemic leave payments for temporary workers will also end when the lockdown rules end, as Albanese said “it’s not sustainable for the government to pay people’s wages forever.”
A champion of the Covid-suppression strategy, Australia moved away from its fortress-like controls and began living with the virus from the start of this year through a staggered easing of curbs amid higher vaccination rates.
“The bottom line is that the emergency preparedness phase is probably over at this point in the pandemic,” Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said. “This virus will be around for many years but it is time to consider … different ways to deal with it.”
But Australian doctors warned that an end to mandatory quarantine rules put the public at risk.
Professor Brendan Crabb, microbiologist and chief executive of the Burnet Institute, told the ABC: “It’s disappointing, quite a dark day actually. You know, it’s illogical and uninformed, to me I find it depressing.”
Australian Medical Association president Steve Robson agreed.
“I think people who are pushing for the reduction of isolation periods are not scientifically literate,” he told ABC television ahead of the government decision.
Australia, one of the most heavily vaccinated countries against Covid-19, has given two doses to 96.5% of over-16s, although just under 72% have received the booster injection.
People hospitalized by the virus and the number of people infected have trended lower after a large Omicron outbreak over the winter. The country’s figure of around 10.2 million infections and 15,153 deaths is lower than many developed economies.