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City Councilor for Health Robert Steen (Labor Party) and Oslo City Council Leader Raymond Johansen (Labor Party) believe there is a gap between optimistic estimates of a reopening and what is the reality. Photograph: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB
The government has expressed the hope that it can reopen the country by the summer. This is an overly optimistic estimate, according to the Oslo Health Council.
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NTB-Fredrik Moen Gabrielsen
– If everything goes as it should – and it has not done so by now – then the adult population is assumed to have already been vaccinated by the summer, health adviser Robert Steen (Labor) tells NTB.
– I’m afraid you are a bit optimistic, especially in light of what has happened recently with the AstraZeneca vaccine, says Steen, referring to the vaccine that has now been discontinued due to uncertainty associated with serious side effects.
However, the Health Office emphasizes that it is easy to be wise afterward.
– But we remember Bent Høie’s analogy that we are now on top of the mountain, now we are going down the other side, and that it is difficult to go down. That was in April of last year. That was in itself when he started with this type of image, says Steen.
It highlights the delicate balance between giving people hope, but at the same time being realistic.
– So, how do you think the government manages that balance?
– I think some of these statements later turned out to have been a bit unfortunate, says Steen.
– Still a little further
Steen also notes that the progress of the vaccine solitaire card is also dependent on deliveries of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which was recently approved for use in Norway.
The vaccine manufacturer has stated that deliveries will begin in the second half of April. The agreement requires them to deliver about a million doses at the end of the second quarter, that is, on June 30.
– If it reaches the end of the second trimester, then I think it is optimistic to see the adult population vaccinated before the summer, says Robert Steen.
Councilor Raymond Johansen (Labor Party) says that it is good to be able to say something positive to people and that the need for this kind of message is great. He hopes the government is correct in its optimistic estimates.
– We all need positive news, but right now there seems to be a certain distance between what we want and what is reality, he says.
– Are you optimistic about the future?
– I am sober and realistic that this will take time. I have always talked about a gradual and controlled reopening of Oslo. And now it’s still a bit further, says Johansen.
BALANCE: Health Minister Bent Høie (H) says the balance between being optimistic and realistic when communicating Norway’s reopening is demanding. But the government is open to both, he says. Photo: Torstein Bøe / NTB
Points of hope and motivation.
Health Minister Bent Høie (H) says the balance between being optimistic and realistic is demanding.
– So it’s easier to say it as it is, and that’s what we try to do to the end, he tells NTB.
– We have never said anything other than that there can also be challenges, but I also think it is correct to tell people about the positive that can happen in the future, so that people do not completely lose hope and motivation, he says.
Following reports of blood clots in people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine, they have stopped vaccinating with it until further notice. However, no connection has been proven, but Høie says that this break in any case slows the progress of the vaccine somewhat at present.
– But those doses have reached the country, so as soon as we can use the vaccine again, it will take very little time until they are established. So it doesn’t have a very big impact, he says.
– This situation also shows that we were right to invest in many different vaccines, so we now use various types of vaccines in Norway. This makes us less vulnerable to this type of change, says Høie.
