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KEY PERSON: Richard Bergström negotiates vaccines with the EU on behalf of Norway. Photo: Pontus Orre
STOCKHOLM / OSLO (VG) The man who negotiates the vaccine doses on behalf of Norway, believes that 1.2 million Norwegians can be vaccinated by March.
– These last few weeks have been tremendously exciting, because now it really happens! Vaccines seem to work, and that’s when the seriousness begins, enthuses Richard Bergström from a hotel lobby in the Swedish capital.
For the Swedish vaccine coordinator, these are extremely hectic days. We are just weeks away from receiving the first vaccine shipments in January when VG meets the globe-trotting Swede in Stockholm, where he is on a business trip from Switzerland, where he lives daily.
Bergström negotiates vaccine procurement deals for the EU, and it is also the one that secures the vaccines from Norway: purchases are made through a program that is reserved for EU member states, but all countries still deliver doses to Norway. This is practically done by Sweden by buying these doses and then selling them to Norway.
Pfizer’s candidate vaccine is closer to being approved in the EU and Norway.
This vaccine is supplied in packages of 975 doses, all of which must be used within five days of preparation for use. Therefore, all cities and towns that will receive them must have an effective progress plan ready to go. Bergström emphasizes that it is very important that all countries are ready to receive vaccines when they arrive.
– There will be many vaccinations in the first trimester and everyone needs to prepare. It would be a scandal if vaccines were not used.
Read more about how Pfizer vaccine can be distributed in Norway with specially made freezer boxes here.
Approximately 2.5 million doses in the first quarter
In the first quarter of 2021, Bergström estimates that Norway will receive a total of approximately 2.5 million doses of vaccine. Since the most relevant vaccines for approval must be administered in two rounds, it will be enough to vaccinate 1,250,000 Norwegians in March next year, he tells VG.
But there are several different vaccines that can come, so it’s difficult to know exactly, he notes. The agreement that Norway has with the EU countries, through Sweden, is that we will receive one percent of each vaccine.
– It is one percent of each batch of vaccine. After that, there will be one percent of shipments each quarter or month. But the first delivery will be to all countries at the same time, says the VG coordinator.
No vaccine has yet been approved in the EU system, but two vaccines are in the final phase of the process: the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna candidates.
They both applied for conditional approval in Europe and delivered their latest important data packets to the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The EMA has scheduled a special meeting for December 29 for Pfizer and January 12 for Moderna, where they will make their recommendation. If the conclusion is positive, the EU Commission can make a decision in a few days and the vaccine can be implemented in the EU and Norway.
Read all about vaccines and how they are approved in the special of VG vaccines.
– Do you know for sure how long the first Pfizer delivery will be?
– We have a contract that has some volume for the first quarter, but we have not yet received an exact delivery form. Sweden will get a couple hundred thousand vaccines as early as January and Norway a little less, due to population, he says.
ON THE MOVE: Sweden’s vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström is constantly on the move between his old land and his new one, Switzerland. Photo: Pontus Orre
– You must protect us all weekend
Although technically it is Sweden that ensures the vaccine doses to Norway, manufacturers send them directly to FHI, bypassing Sweden, says Bergström. He says that the job of negotiating vaccines is enormously exciting, but at the same time very serious, because it means a lot to people.
– What has been the biggest challenge in this job?
– It was on the communication side. Make everyone understand that it is not one vaccine, but many, because we have to protect ourselves. EU cooperation has gone fantastically well in this context, he says.
FHI was commissioned to develop the overall national vaccine plan that the government adopts for Norway.
If the Pfizer vaccine, which can be difficult to distribute, is approved and reaches Norway, the solution will be similar to what we see in other countries, says chief physician Are Stuwitz Berg at FHI to VG.
– We also want a decentralized storage of vaccines here with the help of regional health authorities. We cannot say exactly where these cold rooms will be. The municipalities will have the vaccine transported to the end, and when it reaches the municipality there is no longer a need to store it in -70 freezers, but then the vaccine has a shelf life of only 5 days. Now we are working to inform the municipalities in detail about this, he says.
There are six candidate vaccines that Norway can access through the EU. Four of them are in the approval process and two have come so far that they have submitted an application for conditional approval on the European market.
Click on each vaccine candidate to read more about them:
