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HALLOWEEN

Norwegian minister says kids can celebrate Halloween with classmates

Norway’s education minister Guri Melby says it is okay for children to mark Halloween this year despite the social restrictions currently in place due to Covid-19.

Norwegian minister says kids can celebrate Halloween with classmates
Illustration photo. AFP

Melby commented on Halloween at a press briefing on Thursday reported by Norwegian media including Aftenposten.

Increasing cases of coronavirus in parts of the country have resulted in new national measures aimed at reducing the spread of the virus and local restrictions are in place in Oslo and Bergen.

The national measures include a limit on social gatherings, meaning that a maximum of five friends or family may be invited to any private gathering.

Exemptions to this rule apply for children of kindergarten age and school children who are hosting Halloween or birthday parties – they are allowed to invite more than five friends.

Melby reiterated this exemption for kids in comments to the press, and said it was important to keep such celebrations within normal class or friendship groups to avoid leaving anyone out, according to Aftenposten’s report.

“I sympathise with teachers and other staff who think it’s hard to find solutions. But also with young people who will have a boring autumn,” Melby said.

The approach contrasts with neighbouring Denmark, where authorities have advised against traditional Halloween celebrations. Denmark currently has a nationwide assembly limit of 10 people and more Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations than Norway.

The exemption only applies to young children, however. Secondary schools (ungdomsskole) and further education (videregående skole) are not allowed to have extended Halloween parties.

Bjørn Guldvog, director of the Norwegian health authority, said that children also do not need to observe social distancing rules and that parties can take place for children from the same group or cohort. The health official also stressed the importance of including children who might find themselves otherwise left out.

READ ALSO: Norway registers second-highest daily total of new Covid-19 cases

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

READ ALSO: 

People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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