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The Swedish Public Health Agency and several regions have previously stated that phase two will begin sometime during the month of February, with the oldest ones being first in line. The availability of the vaccine is what will determine when the second phase can begin.
DN has contacted the 21 regions of the country to find out how people over 65 should book vaccination. It turns out that regions are doing it differently, and many still don’t have a fully finished plan for how it should go.
It is, among other things over the Västmanland region and the Uppsala region, where the forms have not yet been decided. Nor in the country’s largest region, Stockholm, has it been decided how to proceed in a purely practical way. Among other things, there is no decision on how to reserve the vaccines.
– We see that we need to make final adjustments around the vaccination itself. When we contact this group, then you want to be able to start vaccinating. Right now they can’t get vaccinated. What guides us at the moment is the availability of vaccines, says vaccine coordinator Magnus Thyberg.
Recently, there has been criticism that people over the age of 70 in some cases need both a computer and an electronic ID to be able to book their vaccination.
DN review shows Most Swedish regions mainly want people over 70 to book through various online services, in some cases only with electronic identification. In the Västernorrland region, people are asked to download a mobile app on a smart phone and then log in with eID to book an appointment.
On the other hand, there will be phone numbers to call to make an appointment for those who, for example, cannot handle computers, something that most regions have or will introduce.
One of the critics of mainly digital vaccine stocks is Tommy Emanuelsson, president of the National Organization of Pensioners, PRO, in Gothenburg.
– In these times, it is not very wise for the grandchildren to come home and help. It will be time 22 in this situation. I don’t have a computer, I can’t get help from the grandkids, I may not be able to call and reserve, or I may hear badly. What to do then?
Tommy Emanuelsson, President of PRO in Gothenburg.
Photo: Veronika Ljung-Nielsen
It’s not just the regions who decided to treat vaccination differently in the second phase. The health centers of the regions also act differently. Among other places in the Västra Götaland region, where it varies between online booking, phone booking, walk-in hours or a combination depending on the region.
– Everyone has their own ideas instead of having a uniform order. Here in Gothenburg, I don’t hear anything about phase 2, not even about the preparations. They have had vaccinations in Sweden since December and they know phase 2 is coming. It happens too little and too slow, says Tommy Emanuelsson.
The Västmanland Region, one of the regions that has not yet established its plan for the second phase, has noticed that some older people have difficulty booking appointments online and in some cases also by phone. They are now investigating the possibility of mailing offers, especially to those over 85.
– So instead you can get in touch if you absolutely don’t want the time. This is the working hypothesis we have at the moment, says Västmanland region vaccine coordinator Jonas Ekström.
Earlier this week, At the government’s live press conference, Johan Carlson, Director General of the Swedish Public Health Agency, came up with new information. The Swedish Public Health Agency changes the order of priority for vaccination against covid-19.
From previously including people over the age of 70 in the second phase, it was expanded to now include all people over the age of 65. Something that put the Vaccine Coordinator of the Västmanland Region to bed.
– I’m pretty pissed off by how the Public Health Agency communicates. We get information at the same time as you in the press.
– I don’t even get an email from the Public Health Agency in the morning where they explain in clear text what this means, but I have to go to their website and see their news. Then I get vague formulations which I will try to interpret later. That doesn’t make the job easier, I can say, says Jonas Ekström.
The change in the Swedish Public Health Agency of the rotation will affect the Västmanland regions and Stockholm vaccination plans. Vaccination in phase 2 now also runs the risk of taking longer in Västmanland, according to Jonas Ekström.
State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell writes in a comment to DN that the authority has ongoing contact with the regions regarding important decisions similar to what was announced in Thursday’s press conference.
“We have permanent contact and this is a job that is done under time pressure. We try to keep them informed as much as we can. “
Sweden’s municipalities and regions, SKR, claim that the regions several times during the pandemic did not receive advance information before press conferences from the authorities. Nor have they always been involved in making recommendations. Something that SKR had wanted.
– This could have been even better if it had had a dialogue with all the regions and with those actors who should act according to a recommendation. So that they are prepared. Of course, that would be for the best, says Emma Spak, health and healthcare section manager.
Have you submitted it to the Public Health Agency?
– It is something that has been talked about continuously during this crisis. But we are in a situation and in a pandemic where everything is going very fast, he says.
In Gothenburg, Tommy Emanuelsson from PRO has received information from the health center where he and his wife belong. It states that vaccination should preferably be booked online; alternatively, they should call.
He hopes that the regions and health centers will give careful thought to their plans to ensure that the elderly are not forgotten during mass vaccination in Sweden.
– There will be many injustices in the end. We will probably say that we should have done this differently. The same way we did, for example, with elderly care, says Tommy Emanuelsson.
