Pregnant Ida (32) is not vaccinated:

In addition to the elderly and people in the risk group, a vaccine against covid-19 has also been offered to health personnel since January.

But not everyone can say yes to the vaccine. Pregnant women and those planning to become pregnant are advised not to get vaccinated.

Therefore, pregnant Ida Marie Tranum has not been offered a vaccine, but is aware that all healthcare professionals should take it.

– If not vaccinated, it exposes patients and potentially the entire ward to the risk of infection. I think there should be compelling reasons not to get vaccinated, says Tranum, who works as a nurse at the North Norwegian University Hospital in Tromsø.

Here she cares

One municipality where there are currently several members of the health personnel who have refused to receive the vaccine is Enebakk.

In Enebakk, about 25 percent of all health workers who have received an offer so far have rejected the vaccine.

So far 69 people have said yes to the vaccine, 16 people have said no.

FHI does not keep statistics on how many people say no to vaccines, but it is something that the municipalities themselves can do if they wish.

– Everything indicates that the vaccine is safe. This is very disappointing, infection control doctor Lars-Erik Fikke in Enebakk municipality tells TV 2.

By comparison, five percent of all the municipality’s elders who have been offered the vaccine have said no.

Fikke doesn’t know why so many have rejected the vaccine and that the reasons are just speculation.

In any case, it is clear in your case whether health professionals should be vaccinated.

– As a supporter of research and science, I see some reasons not to take the vaccine, says Fikke and continues:

– Basically I can understand that those who do not have a great experience in health choose to say no. When you have health professional competence, I think it’s disappointing, he says.

Fikke says the percentage who say no to the vaccine may change as more people are offered.

skepticism

Skepticism about vaccines among healthcare professionals was a topic in December of last year.

A survey by the Norwegian Nurses Association among its members showed that a narrow majority would agree to a coronary vaccine if one were offered, NRK wrote at the time.

Since then, there has been less resistance from the nurses.

The same survey was conducted in January, and then only five percent said they would not take the vaccine, writes the Nursing.

This proportion who do not want to be vaccinated is, among other things, that they have allergies, are pregnant or plan to become pregnant, says Kai Ø vivos Brenden, second deputy director of the Norwegian Nurses Association to TV 2.

He says his impression is that nurses are generally willing to get vaccinated.

Brend says he cannot comment on why so many health personnel, who include more occupational groups than nurses, in Enebakk do not want to be vaccinated.

– We believe that nurses must take responsibility and send a clear signal when taking the vaccine to protect patients and those around them, he says.

I do not know why

Union Director Monica Holme Nordby of the Norwegian Nurses Association in Enebakk says she does not know why several members of the municipality’s health staff have rejected the vaccine.

But she says she knows that some health professionals in the municipality are pregnant.

Nordby, who has received the first dose herself, says she knows no skeptics. His impression is that there are many health personnel in the municipality waiting to be offered the vaccine.

– It is a shame that there are health professionals who say no to the vaccine for no reason. Health professionals must be at the forefront of vaccination, he tells TV 2.

– Scary

Pregnant woman Ida Marie Tranum says she would not have hesitated to take the coronary vaccine if she weren’t pregnant or if research showed it was safe for pregnant women too.

– It’s scary to think about what might happen if I get infected, he says, who works at the UNN neonatal incentive in Tromsø.

She believes that healthcare professionals should be vaccinated not only to protect themselves, but especially to protect patients and colleagues as well.

Tranum refers to foreign media articles that have written about corona-infected pregnant women in the US and UK who are in dire need of oxygen.

In January, the British newspaper iNews wrote that one in nine women under the age of 50 who are hospitalized with COVID-19 in the UK is pregnant or has recently given birth.

– It seems that it quickly becomes serious for pregnant women. It’s scary, too, says Tranum, who is scheduled for an April term.

Hard to remove the doubt

The infection control doctor in Enebakk municipality says that it seems that more young people than old people say no to vaccines, as a study by the National Institute of Public Health also shows.

He says the reasons for vaccine skepticism are complex.

– The oldest part of the population probably trusts the authorities more and follows the recommendations. Surprisingly, many young people listen more to their colleague at work or insecure sources on social media than to the professional environment, says Fikke.

Media reports of death and side effects are likely to play a role, too, he thinks.

He says that even if you try to qualify this message, it is difficult to remove the doubt once it has arisen.

Believe in high support

The chief physician Preben Aavitsland of the National Institute of Public Health writes in an email to TV 2 that his impression after the dialogue with the municipalities is that the vast majority agree with the vaccine.

– Our opinion polls in the population indicate that the most important reason people consider saying no is that they don’t know enough about vaccines and fear side effects, he says.

Aavitsland says FHI believes that support for the coronary vaccine will be high, at least 80 to 90 percent, among those who receive the offer.