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NORWAY TERROR ATTACKS

NORWAY

Sweden observes silent minute for Norway

Sweden's government called for the general public to observe a minute of silence at midday on Monday to honour the dead in Friday's twin attacks in Norway.

Sweden observes silent minute for Norway

“To demonstrate Sweden’s heartfelt participation the government recommends that the government broad adherence to the minute of silence,” a government statement read.

And many people across Sweden heeded the call. A number of work places ceased activity and Twitter fell silent as users kept their fingers still after a weekend of frenetic activity.

The minute began at midday and was started by Norway’s prime minister Jens Stoltenberg.

Stoltenberg has received warm praise for his response to the national tragedy which has so far claimed the live of 93 people. In an emotional speech at a memorial service on Sunday, Stoltenberg quoted one of the survivors.

“If one man can show so much hate, imagine how much love we can spread together,” he said.

Sweden’s foreign minister Carl Bildt emphasised the call for observance in a twitter post earlier on Monday, calling on everyone worldwide to stand up and reflect.

“Let us all – wherever we are in the world – observe the minute of silence at 12:00 (GMT+2) for all the victims in Norway.”

In a later blog post, Bildt called for a vigorous defence of the “open society”, citing Austrian philosopher Karl Popper and reflecting on comments he made on Sveriges Radio earlier in the summer.

“I said… that the big showdown in the future would go between us who believe in and want to see an open society and those who in one way or another way to close us in and everything else out there.”

“The bestiality we have experienced in recent days of deep tragedy will hopefully make us stronger in our conviction of the value of the open society.”

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NORWAY

Norway to send 200,000 AstraZeneca doses to Sweden and Iceland

Norway, which has suspended the use of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine until further notice, will send 216,000 doses to Sweden and Iceland at their request, the Norwegian health ministry said Thursday.

Norway to send 200,000 AstraZeneca doses to Sweden and Iceland
Empty vials of the AstraZeneca vaccine. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)

“I’m happy that the vaccines we have in stock can be put to use even if the AstraZeneca vaccine has been paused in Norway,” Health Minister Bent Høie said in a statement.

The 216,000 doses, which are currently stored in Norwegian fridges, have to be used before their expiry dates in June and July.

Sweden will receive 200,000 shots and Iceland 16,000 under the expectation they will return the favour at some point. 

“If we do resume the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, we will get the doses back as soon as we ask,” Høie said.

Like neighbouring Denmark, Norway suspended the use of the AstraZeneca jab on March 11 in order to examine rare but potentially severe side effects, including blood clots.

Among the 134,000 AstraZeneca shots administered in Norway before the suspension, five cases of severe thrombosis, including three fatal ones, had been registered among relatively young people in otherwise good health. One other person died of a brain haemorrhage.

On April 15, Norway’s government ignored a recommendation from the Institute of Public Health to drop the AstraZeneca jab for good, saying it wanted more time to decide.

READ MORE: Norway delays final decision on withdrawal of AstraZeneca vaccine 

The government has therefore set up a committee of Norwegian and international experts tasked with studying all of the risks linked to the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, which is also suspected of causing blood clots.

Both are both based on adenovirus vector technology. Denmark is the only European country to have dropped the AstraZeneca
vaccine from its vaccination campaign, and said on Tuesday it would “lend” 55,000 doses to the neighbouring German state of Schleswig-Holstein.

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