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Of: Anna SjögrenBy Olivia J Berntsson
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More and more voices have been raised that Sweden should do the same as neighboring countries and allow health workers to be vaccinated before the elderly.
Anders Tegnell is now responding to criticism of the Swedish Public Health Agency’s vaccination plan.
– We have a much bigger problem with the spread of infection in nursing homes than in other countries, a vaccine is the only way to limit it.
All of our Nordic neighbors have changed their vaccination plans and now put their health care staff first for a covid injection. But the Swedish Public Health Agency’s plan to first vaccinate the country’s more than 70 people remains unchanged.
This has been criticized, among others, by the Health Association in Skåne and the Sahlgrenska Hospital in Gothenburg, who want Sweden to make the same change of course.
– The strategy we have is the one that many countries started. Since then, the pressure on healthcare has been enormous, so many have chosen to make changes. We are open to that too, but then a broader discussion of the health system is required, Anders Tegnell tells Aftonbladet.
Has more infection in nursing homes
Sweden has also had greater problems with the infection’s spread in nursing homes more than many other countries.
– There, the vaccine is the only way to limit it. Those who are at high risk of illness and death live in nursing homes, he says.
Photo: Pontus Orre
The priority order of the vaccine is a hot topic.
According to proponents, vaccinating those at the forefront of fighting the corona pandemic is about ensuring that infection does not spread among healthcare professionals and that medical care is safe.
Anders Tegnell has previously said that he considers the risk of spreading the infection in covid care to be quite low.
How can the risk be assessed as small for those on the front line?
– That is not the main argument for our prioritization. These are the ethical foundations that we have for medical care and how it should be carried out. We are open to a discussion, but then we must have a broader discussion zone with healthcare and regions if we want to stop vaccinating in nursing homes and instead in care, says Anders Tegnell.
“The Law of Pandemics does not matter much”
Philosophy professor Torbjörn Tännsjo previously told Aftonbladet that he believes it is a symbolic act of the government and the Public Health Agency to allow older people, who have been hit hard by the pandemic, to get vaccinated first.
Anders Tegnell rejects it.
– I find it difficult to see it as a symbolic act if you can save lives.
Photo: Pontus Orre
Anders Tegnell, state epidemiologist.
During Saturday’s press conference, Anders Tegnell expressed his concern that Europe and Sweden are heading for a new wave. On January 8, the Riksdag will vote on a new pandemic law that gives the government greater powers to be able to close shopping malls and regulate the number of people in a store, among other things.
It will not be decisive for the development of the pandemic, says Tegnell.
– It is probably not certain that it is of great importance. It will be good, but the big difference we get is if you stay home when you’re sick, wash your hands, and work from home.
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