SHARE
COPY LINK

SMS

Sweden to send mass text to population on Christmas Covid rules

Sweden's public health agency is to send out text messages to every mobile phone number in the country hoping to drum home recommendations designed to prevent an explosion of infection over Christmas and the New Year.

Sweden to send mass text to population on Christmas Covid rules
Morgan Olofsson, communications chief for MSB, Home Minister Mikael Damberg and Digital Minister Anders Ygeman announce the texts at a press conference on Friday. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT
“We are now in a difficult situation ahead of Christmas and New Year and we want to give the Swedish people yet another reminder,” Sweden's home minister Mikael Damberg said at a press conference announcing the mass text on Friday morning. 
 
Sweden's Public Health Agency last Tuesday issued new guidelines which come into force on Monday December 14th, requesting that people in Sweden limit their socialising over the festive period if possible to a bubble of eight people, avoid new contacts, meet outside as much as possible, and avoid public transport as much as possible.
 
 
The mass text messaging is being done together with Sweden's four biggest telecoms operators, Telia, Tele2, Telenor and Tre. According to the TT newswire, there are about 22 million mobile phone contracts in the country of 10 million people. 
 
“They have come forward voluntarily to help carry this out practically. They are performing an important service to reduce the spread of infection in Sweden,” said digitalisation minister Anders Ygeman. 
 
The text in the SMS, in Swedish, will read: “Information from the authorities: Follow the new tighter advice in order to stop the spread of infection. Read more on the Krisinformation website.” 
 
It will not itself mention any of the actual recommendations for Christmas, instead enjoining recipients to go online and check up on what they are. 
 
At the press Damberg reiterated that, although there are no fines or other sanctions for not following the recommendations, they should not be seen as voluntary.  
 
“The recommendations from the agencies aren't some kind of tips for the public — they should be followed,” he said. 
 
At the press conference Morgan Olofsson, the crisis preparedness agency's communication chief, said that the text messages “obviously and unfortunately” could only be sent out in Swedish and encouraged Swedes with an immigrant background and good Swedish language skills to translate the message for those who understand Swedish less well.  
 
“We think this way — if all of you who read this message, if you help, in your language to the extent that you can, to  spread the message further, then everyone will understand how serious the situation is, and that way we can save lives,” he said. 
 
The Krisinformation website itself contains links to information about the coronavirus in Sweden in other languages, which you can find here. The Local has also published a Q&A about what the rules mean in English.

 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

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.

SHOW COMMENTS