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MAN FROM NORWAY: Richard Bergström negotiates the doses for us. Photo: Pontus Orre
Norway will have access to 1.2 million more doses of Pfizer vaccine than was initially supposed, Sweden’s vaccine coordinator tells VG.
– Additional doses come from March onwards. Norway now receives around 40,000 doses a week in January and February, and there will be more after that, Sweden’s vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström tells VG on Christmas Eve.
The EU originally agreed to buy 200 million doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, but the deal also included an option to buy another 100 million doses. The European Commission decided it would do it a week ago.
– We have used that option now, and Norway also automatically gets a bonus, says Bergström.
This means that Norway can receive a total of 3.6 million doses through the agreement we have on the purchase of the Pfizer vaccine, he confirms. He had previously stated that Norway would receive approximately 2.5 million doses of this vaccine in total.
It is enough to vaccinate 1.2 million Norwegians with the Pfizer vaccine alone, which requires two doses.
Norway also has several agreements to buy doses of other vaccines, provided they are approved. With the additional doses of Pfizer included, Norway has secured in total sufficient doses of the various vaccines to vaccinate 4.5 million people.
Read all about vaccines in the VG Vaccine Special.
Think that everyone in nursing homes will be vaccinated in January
Vaccine purchases are made through a program that is reserved for EU member states, but all countries still ship doses to Norway. This is practically done by Sweden by buying these doses and then selling them to Norway.
Vaccines are distributed according to population. Norway has previously been said to receive one percent of the doses, but the most accurate figure is closer to 1.2 percent, according to Bergström.
Because the EU buys an additional 100 million doses, Norway receives an additional 1.2 million doses. This is in addition to the 2.4 million doses previously reserved for Norway. In total, there will be 3.6 million doses.
– I think that the elderly who live in nursing homes, get vaccinated in January. Later, others in risk groups can be vaccinated. Starting in April, the entire population can begin to be vaccinated in Sweden and Norway, Bergström believes.
The possibilities of getting extra doses don’t stop there either: Pfizer doses come in vials intended for five doses, but it should be possible to get six doses if you use the rest of what is in the glasses. The Norwegian Medicines Agency believes this to be professionally justifiable and the NIPH is now considering the case.
THE VACCINE: The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine should be stored frozen for five days after thawing. Photo: JACK GUEZ / AFP
On the way to norway
The first doses of vaccine have left the factory in Belgium and are on their way to Norway, Pfizer has confirmed.
Norway will initially receive 9,750 vaccines, which will be used in nursing homes in seven municipalities in eastern Norway. A new shipment will arrive on December 28 with around 40,000 doses, which will be distributed evenly throughout the country’s municipalities.
Shipments with around 40,000 doses continue weekly.
Check how many vaccines your municipality receives from the first package in this case, and check where you are in the vaccine queue by doing this test.
Eventually, we will likely have several vaccines in Norway at the same time. Read more about the six vaccine candidates that are relevant to Norway by clicking on them below:
