Corona vaccine in the regions: only 4 out of 21 have a complete plan

From: Ebba Thornéus

Published: Dec 11, 2020 at 06:03
Updated: Dec 11, 2020 at 7:18 a.m.

The plan is for Swedes to start getting vaccinated against covid-19 in January.

But at present it is not entirely clear how it will go.

Only 4 out of a total of 21 regions have a complete vaccination plan.

Five million Swedes can already be vaccinated by the summer if all goes according to plan, said Sweden’s vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström.

In the best case scenario, the vaccinations can start as early as the New Year, but most likely they will start after the New Year’s weekend, Bergström recently told Aftonbladet.

The Swedish Public Health Agency is responsible for the vaccine reaching all 21 regions of the country, but it is the regions that are responsible for the vaccination themselves.

Photo: Fredrik Sandberg / TT

Only four of the 21 regions have a complete vaccination plan, the Aftonbladet survey shows.

Uncertainty about logistics

According to Emma Spak, head of health and medical care at SKR, Sweden’s municipalities and regions, it is the uncertainty about how many doses and when exactly they will arrive the main logistical challenge for the regions.

– The fact that Sweden receives 50,000, 500,000 or five million doses of vaccine per month plays an important role in the way logistics will be organized. The regions need to work with that uncertainty factor in their planning, he tells TT.

– We suspect that the forecast will change a lot in the spring. It completely depends on which vaccines are approved and the ability of the vaccine companies to administer them.

Only four have complete plans

Reliability of deliveries became a problem in relation to swine flu just over ten years ago, when almost five million Swedes were vaccinated.

– It is one of the biggest challenges, if you do not receive the deliveries as expected. That you have staff and facilities, but then the vaccine doesn’t come, says Emma Spak.

Aftonbladet has been in contact with all the regions and has asked how the work with the vaccination coordination is going and if there is a complete vaccination plan.

In a similar request from SVT in early December, only one region responded that it had a plan in place.

Just over a week later, a total of 4 of the 21 regions declare for Aftonbladet that they have a complete vaccination plan.

These are Gotland, Skåne, Stockholm and Västmanland. The rest answer no or that the work is in progress.

“Some uncertain parameters”

When asked how vaccine coordination is going, most regions respond that they are in a good position based on the prevailing conditions:

• “Relatively good under the circumstances, although there are still no answers to many important questions that will be important to know”

• “Based on the prevailing conditions, we are in phase with our planning.”

• “Many pieces are beginning to fall into place, but there are still a lot of uncertain parameters.”

When asked when they estimate the regions that will receive the first vaccine deliveries, all responded that it is currently unclear, but that most plan to be in January.

“It will require perseverance”

In terms of the ability to store and handle the vaccine, in the form of freezing and cooling storage spaces with sufficient trained staff, all regions say they hope to do this:

• “We have experience in annual vaccination against influenza. It will be a challenge, but we hope to be successful. “

• “We believe that we have the capacity to store the vaccine and that we will have personnel to carry out the vaccination effort.”

• “It will take perseverance and it will be a burden, but it should pay off as the infection situation improves and the burden on medical care gradually eases.”

PODD Vaccine problem: this is how it can work in regions

Aftonbladet Daily with Inger Nordin Olsson, regional immunization coordinator in the Örebro region.

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Published: Dec 11, 2020 at 06:03

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