Coronavirus: have faith in southern parties

Good cancellation insurance and an alternative plan. This was Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s advice to those already planning a summer vacation outside of Norway, during a press conference on January 18.

Now, Sweden’s vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström comes up with an encouraging prediction.

– I think we can go on vacation to the south this summer, he tells Dagbladet.

Bergström is part of the group that negotiates vaccine doses on behalf of the EU, and is the man who secures the doses for both Sweden and Norway.

This will be the winter holidays

– much possible

Bergström is optimistic about the holiday prospects for Norwegians, but notes that this presupposes that we have vaccinated our own population and that there is progress in the rest of Europe as well.

– If these countries have been vaccinated, they can remove many of the restrictions. Because it makes no sense to travel to a country where nothing can be done. Where hotels, restaurants and the beach are closed.

That is why it is important that the whole EU starts with vaccination, he believes.

– I think that a European vacation can be possible, certainly in the Nordic countries, but many things are also possible in southern Europe. I think so, and I hope I can sunbathe this summer.

– I hope you are right

The Norwegian health authorities are a bit more cautious.

– It remains to be seen, but with the forecasts we have for deliveries, it seems that we will be able to vaccinate a part of the Norwegian population in the future. This will allow us to make assessments on the lifting of the measures, department director Line Vold tells Dagbladet after Friday’s press conference.

It highlights that evaluations of travel abroad also depend on the infection situation in other countries.

– Here, there will be a general evaluation as summer approaches. We have significantly lower infection rates in Norway than in most other countries. Therefore, traveling abroad carries the risk of taking the infection with you. We want to reduce that risk as much as possible by not recommending traveling abroad.

The Minister of Health and Care Services, Bent Høie (H), confirms the following about Bergström’s forecast:

– I am very hopeful that your faith is correct. And then we’ll see, he says Dagbladet.

– Boy we have to listen to

Dagbladet has presented Bergström’s predictions to Deputy Health Director Espen Rostrup Nakstad.

– Richard Bergström is a guy we should listen to. He’s the one who knows the most about what vaccines we can expect to receive, both in Norway and Sweden, he tells Dagbladet TV.

– In the best of cases, it seems that we can get enough doses of vaccines, and in that way we can vaccinate enough in the adult population towards the summer, he adds.

Problem with the vaccine: – Unacceptable

At the same time, there is a risk of unforeseen problems, which will reduce deliveries and postpone vaccination throughout the fall.

As recently as Thursday, it became clear that Moderna’s planned delivery of corona vaccine will be postponed for a week and cut in half. However, we will receive the remaining doses again the following month, FHI states.

– We still don’t know exactly how this will be. But it is clear that the longer we take to get the deliveries we expect, the more likely it is that many will get vaccinated towards the summer, and then we will be able to live much more normally as we approach summer, says Nakstad.

– Good idea

The debate has also revolved around the so-called vaccine passes. The idea is that physical evidence of the status of the vaccine could confer certain privileges, for example related to travel between countries.

Work related to the technical requirements and information that a vaccine passport must contain is currently being carried out under the auspices of the EU and WHO. Norway has not yet introduced a passport for vaccines.

– Vaccine care is a good idea, but it is incredibly difficult to implement, says Bergström.

– Wastes valuable time

He points out that vaccination is carried out in different ways in different countries, under the auspices of different agencies.

– It is very different in different countries. They all have different journal systems, which are not compatible with each other.

Differences may also arise in relation to the actual use of the passport.

– Is it the border police, the hotel, the festival organizer who should have it? A destination in the Mediterranean? It is very difficult to achieve it. But I think technical standards can be agreed.