Norway postpones final stage of reopening plan
Thu, Jul 29 2021 10:51:49 AM
Oslo, Jul 29 (IANS): For a second time, Norway will postpone the final stage of the country s reopening plan for another two weeks out of concerns over the fast-spreading Delta Covid-19 variant, according to Minister of Health and Care Services Bent Hoie. There is uncertainty about how the Delta variant will turn out in Norway, Xinhua news agency quoted Hoie as saying at a press conference here on Wednesday. The government has therefore chosen to follow the advice from the Norwegian Directorate of Health and Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) and wait for step four in the reopening plan, said the Minister.
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Source: Government of Norway
Sweden and Iceland want to borrow Norwegian doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine which are in storage with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Norway plans to lend doses to Sweden and Iceland as long as use of the vaccine is paused in this country.
“I am pleased that the vaccines we have in storage will be used even though rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine has been paused in Norway. If use of the AstraZeneca vaccine resumes, the doses we lend out will be returned as soon as we ask for them. Sweden and Iceland will then return doses from their first deliveries of AstraZeneca vaccines”, says Minister of Health and Care Services Bent Høie.
A Broader Basis for Making Decisions concerning Viral Vector Vaccines
The final decision concerning the use of the AstraZeneca and Janssen COVID-19 vaccines will be taken by the Norwegian Government. A committee of experts, both foreign and national, will be appointed to examine the consequences of using or not using these vaccines in the vaccination programme.
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health recommends removing the AstraZeneca vaccine from the vaccination programme permanently due to the risk of rare but severe side effects. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has assessed this in relation to the COVID-19 situation in Norway.
The assessment made by the experts at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health is solid and thorough. Working with colleagues in Denmark, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the community of experts in Norway were quick to discover these side effects and assess the causal connection to the vaccine.