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The summer of 2020 was characterized by restrictions related to the spread of covid-19. Due to the uncertainty associated with a corona vaccine, there is also uncertainty associated with the summer of 2021.
Previously, Health Minister Bent Høie has stated that the most optimistic forecasts show that a current vaccine in Norway can be approved during 2020 and be available in early 2021.
Summer 2021
On Wednesday, the head of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated that large deliveries of covid-19 vaccines to EU countries and Norway are expected to start in April 2021.
– There is uncertainty about when the vaccine will arrive and there are many conditions that must be met. This naturally means that we have to prepare for a pretty harsh winter and it means that we have to work very hard to reduce the number of infections, says health director Bjørn Guldvog to Dagbladet and continues:
– What does this mean for the summer of 2021?
– Summer is probably coming. And there will probably be sun and heat. But it is also not certain that we will be in a very favorable infection control situation next summer. At the same time, everyone can do something by reducing their close contacts. In this way, we can reduce the infection again together.
Health Minister Bent Høie was also asked about the outlook for the summer of 2021.
– It depends a lot on the types of vaccines we receive and the scope of the vaccines that come. The most important thing for Norway is that we are part of the EU plan for the procurement of vaccines, so we will receive our share of the vaccine doses that have been approved and produced for the EU.
New information
Director Camilla Stoltenberg of the National Institute of Public Health tells Dagbladet that the new EU report on the corona vaccine was expected.
– Your estimates for when the first vaccine arrives in the EU and Norway will vary. We must hope that there will also be new information and estimates on this in the future. The National Institute of Public Health is very interested in saying that there is uncertainty associated with many points related to this.
Stoltenberg states that the timing of Norway receiving a vaccine can have an impact on the duration of infection control measures against the spread of COVID-19.
– It is clear that when we receive a vaccine, how well it works and in which groups it works, is important for the duration of the measures, says Stoltenberg.
