[ad_1]
The coronavirus in Sweden
Sweden receives a total of 90,000 doses of vaccine during the week if all goes well. A central warehouse has been purchased and the National Board of Health and Welfare has been commissioned to purchase freezers that can withstand minus 70 degrees.
Planning around the vaccine Pfizer / Biontech is in an intense phase. Scientific committees are already meeting at the European Medicines Agency EMA in Amsterdam on Monday, and the European Commission is expected to approve the vaccine on Tuesday.
Truck deliveries go from Belgium on Christmas Eve to all EU member states and around December 26, countries, including Sweden, are expected to receive a token amount of vaccine of around 10,000 doses.
The President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, calls for the start of vaccination days in the EU on December 27, 28 and 29.
Thereafter, Sweden will receive 80,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine per week, starting on December 28.
“We have managed to get more doses than we thought,” says Swedish vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström.
Sweden also acts as a trading center for Norway and Iceland, and Norway receives 40,000 doses a week depending on the population.
“There are many numbers, I have become an expert in Excel”, says Richard Bergström.
Expected January 7 also an approval of Moderna’s vaccine, of which Sweden will provisionally receive 4.3 million doses. But since the factories that will make the vaccine are not even finished, there will be significantly fewer doses in January, around 50,000 to 100,000 doses, according to Richard Bergström.
The acquisition of how the vaccine will be delivered to regions of Sweden was completed this week, but which company is responsible for the distribution is being kept secret. This means that the Swedish Public Health Agency has signed an agreement on a central warehouse where vaccines are delivered from the mainland and then transferred to the 21 regions.
At the same time, the National Board of Health and Welfare has been commissioned to purchase 21 of the so-called cryo-freezers that can withstand a temperature of minus 70 degrees. This is because the Pfizer and Biontech mRNA vaccine requires extremely cold temperatures to remain stable.
“From what I understand they have already started to be delivered, and it’s more like a backup because if you have planned it well and get a good flow, the box has a shelf life of 14 days when it arrives in Sweden unopened”, says Richard Bergström.
The vaccine is delivered in a large box containing smaller boxes, which Bergström describes more or less as pizza boxes. About 80 boxes are shipped each week. A thawed box stays in the refrigerator for five days.
Richard Bergström says it will be a great device to obtain the flow so that everyone who has been vaccinated can receive a second dose at the agreed time.
“This is perhaps one of the biggest healthcare logistical challenges we’ve had in a long time.”
