Increased prevalence in Norway – planned relief operations halted

Norway is adhering to the so-called TISK strategy, which stands for testing, isolation, infection tracing and quarantine, even if the actual plan is to go into the fourth or final stage before society becomes normal.

But the spread of infection increased and therefore increased Erna Solberg (Right) announces that the country will remain in the penultimate stage. When enough people are vaccinated, Norway opens up squarely to normal daily life with increased preparedness. On the map of infection in the European Union, Oslo turned from red to dark red, which means a strong spread of infection.

Norway has done well at vaccination, receiving nearly 4 million first doses and about 59 percent of the population being fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, just over 1,600 people were infected in a single day, but the number treated in hospitals is just over 80.

Younger patients are increasingly treated in Norway. When the average age up to week 29 was 57, it is now down to 46. According to statistics, nearly 70 percent of them are not immune.

Young people are vaccinated

Since the infection is spread mainly among unvaccinated adults and among young adults, a dose of the Pfiza vaccine will also be offered to those aged 12 to 15 years.

This is after it was recommended by the National Institute of Public Health (FHI), which is Norway’s equivalent of THL in Finland and the Swedish Public Health Agency.

– Children and youth between the ages of 12 and 15 will be presented in the first round only once. We want to wait for the evaluation of the FHI and the experiences of other countries before deciding whether this group should receive the second dose, Solberg says.

FHI justifies the decision to give only one dose initially, rather than two, by revealing the risk of developing myocarditis, or so-called myocarditis, among young adults. Side effects mainly occur after the second dose, and most are healthy after one month, according to the FHI.

HBL wrote about side effects in July. Then the vaccine researchers commented Mika Ramit The risks are as follows:

Based on US health records, there appears to be an increased risk after the second dose of an mRNA vaccine. The risk is about 1 in 30,000 for people between the ages of 12 and 39. Fortunately, most cases have been at least mild and transient. No such risk has been identified in the European Union, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

The parents decide

Solberg states that it is the parents who decide whether children should be vaccinated. At the same time, she urges everyone to take the second dose.

Vaccination is the way out of the epidemic, she says.

When it comes to childhood vaccinations, please refer Camilla Stoltenberg At the NIPH, Denmark, Iceland and Finland decided to vaccinate on the grounds that it increases the immunity of the population.

– These are the countries we trust in managing the epidemic, she says.

She notes that the UK has decided to wait with the vaccinations for young people until they know more about the benefits and risks. In Sweden, no decision has been made about vaccinations either.

– We are extensively researching this issue and so far have not come to the conclusion that we want to recommend this group to be vaccinated. Children generally do not have serious symptoms, but the risks of vaccination are also small. We are looking into the issue and hope to be able to devise a message soon, he says Karen Tegmark WesselAssistant epidemiologist.

According to Camilla Stoltenberg, vaccinating children will significantly reduce the spread of infection among the entire population, and at the same time reduce the number of hospitalizations and deaths. Children under 12 years of age will not be vaccinated because there is no approved vaccine for these young adults.

Few of the children are seriously ill

Stoltenberg says there are still a small number of children who have become seriously ill from COVID-19.

In Norway, about 140 children have so far been hospitalized, she says, and 0.4 percent of children aged 0-17 have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

It is a vanishing small fraction and the same is true of infant mortality. In Norway, two such deaths were recorded.

Even if Norway retains some restrictions and continues with the TISK strategy, some relief will be offered. When the Norwegian national football team meets Gibraltar in the World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday, 10,000 are allowed at Olivule Stadium. Facilities for outdoor and indoor events will be provided the night before Saturday.

In Sweden, the prevalence of infection has also increased week by week over the past two months.

It’s not a huge increase, but it’s there and it’s slowly moving upwards, says Karen Tegmark Wiesel.

Younger age groups are mainly infected, in Sweden the unvaccinated aged 20-29 and 10-19 are high in statistics.