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Sweden has started vaccination, but it will be a while before the effects on the spread of the infection are felt. Agnes Wold, professor of clinical bacteriology at the University of Gothenburg, remains positive.
“This is the best thing that has happened all year,” he says.
When people get vaccinated, the spread of infection can eventually slow down and things can go back to normal, says Agnes Wold.
Matti Sällberg, a professor and vaccine researcher in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the Karolinska Institutet, also considers the start of the vaccine to be positive.
“This is fantastic, as we can save lives immediately. You start with the really old, who are also at the highest risk of dying in this, and also with the staff around them,” says Matti Sällberg.
TT: What will happen in the near future?
“It should be clear that it will start with the elderly, the main risk group, and that it will take time. As it is not the elderly who are driving the spread of the infection, it can be until the second half of spring before we see a real effect on the spread of the infection, until then we have to sit quietly in the boat, ”says Agnes Wold.
Matti Sällberg says that we are now entering the pandemic vaccination season.
It is from now until April when we hope to be able to vaccinate all risk groups and priority groups. It is hoped that it can save lives fairly quickly and provide relief for medical care. When you start vaccinating the general population, you can start to see a reduction in the spread of the infection. “
“My hope is that by the fall we have had time to vaccinate the population and then we won’t see any more waves,” says Sällberg, adding that vaccinating the public should be done during the summer to get the best effect. “
TT: Why is it good to vaccinate during the summer?
– This is a seasonal virus with a reduced spread during the summer. If you want people to run between vaccination clinics, good to have as there is low or very little spread in society. Furthermore, this means that the healthcare and healthcare personnel required for a large part of the vaccines are not overburdened with caring for covid patients, says Matti Sällberg.
TT: What do you think of the Pfizer vaccine that is being administered now?
“The big advantage is that both this vaccine and Moderna’s are extremely effective, both have an efficiency of around 95 percent, which is much higher than many of the vaccines we have today. When everyone who can receive the vaccine has taken it, it means that 19 of the 20 that you are in the city have immunity, then you have achieved the famous herd immunity “, says Agnes Wold.
TT: Is there any guarantee that the vaccine will provide lasting immunity? What if this is not the case?
“It is in the nature of things that we cannot know how it will be in several years, because the tests have not lasted that long. But there is nothing that worries me, since there are many other vaccines in the works if they are to be ineffective. “.
“But it is not the case that it says ‘poof’ and that is why the protective effect of the vaccine is gone forever, it is neither one nor zero. Vaccines often provide partial protection, so you can get sick later in life, but not as badly, “says Agnes Wold.
Sällberg does not rule out that multiple doses may be necessary.
If you look at Moderna’s vaccine, they have published that immunity appears to last for at least about 120 days. Based on that, I think there are good conditions that can last for at least 6 to 12 months. But we will see in the future. I think we will learn a lot in the spring about long-term follow-up. But it is absolutely impossible to rule out that we initially need to take another dose a year, ”says Matti Sällberg.
