Richard Bergstrom in an interview with Astra Geneca: “Regression”

Published: 15 April 2021 K.L. 20.49
Updated: 16 April 2021 K.L. 00.44

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In the summer, Richard Bergstrம்m hopes that Sweden will receive more vaccines than we can use.

Now he sees the vaccine coordinator as his biggest setback – he missed the vaccine for Astra Geneca.

– Richard Bergstrம்m says in an interview with Uptonbladet that we could have handled this completely differently.

Richard Bergstrom is in Stockholm for three serious meetings.

For his small staff on the premises of government offices, the vaccination coordinator has brought with him L லbeck Marzipan, which was purchased during a stop on the way from Zurich, where Richard Bergstrம்m lives with his family.

– He has a tendency to exaggerate his skills at Excel, but he jokes that he’s right, says Anki Bystead, who is general secretary of the “Inquiry into Access to Vaccines Against Govt-19”.

Photo: LOTTE FERNVALL

Richard Bergstrom and General Secretary Anki Bystrom.

When Richard Bergstrom was appointed government vaccination coordinator, it was a part-time job, but it quickly swelled. Richard Bergstrோம்m, a senior in the pharmaceutical industry, represents Sweden in a steering committee responsible for purchasing the Covit-19 vaccine for the EU.

As we sat down, Richard Bergstrom talked about vaccine distribution with his opponent in Greece.

What do you make the most money from being a government vaccine coordinator or the jobs you get in the pharmaceutical industry?

– No, but there’s a lot more in the industry, of course. Richard Bergstrom says this is not something you do for money.

Richard Bergstrom participates a lot in the media, mostly from his room in Switzerland. Yesterday, he answered viewers’ questions on TV4 and said that the first injection will be given to all adults after last June – which is far more dangerous than the public health agency’s forecast for August 15.

Bergstrom stands by his word, but does not want to get caught up in the matter.

– I can get a little bit of summer so you easily lose sight of how well it has gone. I am very concerned about other parts of the world and the future.

A year ago, many said it would take longer than the vaccine did, Bergstrom says.

– Johann Kisek was recently “in 30 minutes”. When asked if he had said anything wrong, he said he did not think the vaccine could be obtained so quickly.

Bergstrom about his dream scene

As of July or August, Richard Bergstrom estimates that there are more vaccine contracts in Sweden than we can use. This applies to many of the EU member states.

The vaccine coordinator believes it is important to send it to countries in high demand, including the global vaccination program Kovacs.

– If we don’t stop it everywhere, it will come back here. My dream scene is that we end up in a negative loop. We vaccinate, and then there are mutations, so we need to update the vaccine and use those doses, then we can not share, and then there will be more mutations …

– If we have to use all the dose we have ordered, it will be a problem. So I hope we can avoid it. Our infection can be suppressed here and then it can be suppressed everywhere. It will not disappear completely, but we are one step ahead of it all the time, Richard Bergstrom continues.

Richard Bergstrom became the vaccine coordinator in June 2020. When asked what he sees as his biggest setback, he replied that it was about Astra Geneca.

But this does not apply to side effects.

Returning tours of over 65 people were not initially warned about the AstraGeneca vaccine – nowadays Absolutely More than 65 people are vaccinated in Sweden.

– I understand that this has caused people incredible confusion. But both of those conclusions are very logical in those cases based on facts.

“This is America’s First”

Instead, Bergstrom refers to sharply reduced deliveries, with Astra causing a devastating war between Geneca and the EU in March.

– This surprise with Astra Geneca is a collective setback as we are unable to receive deliveries from all factories. So looking back, we should have been more skeptical, I have to say. To some kind of question: “Why do you have contracts between the UK and the US? Can you really deliver from those factories? Can we get it in black and white?” But we did not.

According to the Swedish Public Health Organization, Sweden received almost 3.3 million less than planned.

Richard Bergstrom, who sat at the negotiating table, suspected that getting vaccines from the United States could be a problem.

– This has nothing to do with Trump or Biden, they like “America first”. So there is always risk. But Astra Geneca has signed an agreement with the UK that says you can not leave the UK until you have completed it yourself – we do not know. We may have handled this completely differently based on communication and expectations and everything. So, I have to say that that is the only drawback, if one wanted to self-criticize, we could have acted differently.

Aftonbladet Astra contacted Geneca, announcing that its news service company declined to comment.

“I stand in line to be vaccinated”

Several regions reported this week that there were some doubts in the country about the Astra Geneca vaccine.

Richard Bergstrோம்m used the term “pandemic vaccine” extensively to describe the vector vaccine from Astra Geneca and Johnson & Johnson.

Richard Bergstrம்m says they are not ready to take it many times. Instead, the EU will invest in MRNA vaccines in the future, such as Pfizer and Moderna. According to the vaccine coordinator, these have been shown to provide significantly better protection than initially thought by many.

– The strategy of the European Commission is that we must be prepared in the coming years to tackle mutations. Then it will be a combination of MRNA vaccine and protein vaccine, where we have not yet approved anything.

Richard Bergstrom, 55, who has not been vaccinated, says he has no qualms about taking the Astra Geneca vaccine.

– Now we don’t have a vaccine, so this is enough for everyone. I stand in line myself to be vaccinated. In that situation I think you should take the vaccine you get. Eventually, by the time we reach 2022 and 2023, we will have different types of vaccines to deal with mutations and variations. But now, Astra Geneca is a good vaccine that has proven to be more effective than we initially thought. The biggest studies from Great Britain and Israel are now seeing what effect they have on the population level. So I hope we can use all the dosages available here, says vaccine coordinator Richard Bergstrோம்m.

Published: 15 April 2021 K.L. 20.49

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