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VACCINATION

67-year old man first to get Coronavirus vaccine in Norway

A 67-year old man on Sunday morning became the first person in Norway to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, saying afterward that he felt like "Armstrong landing on the moon".

Published: 27 December 2020 13:47 CET
67-year old man first to get Coronavirus vaccine in Norway
Svein Andersen, 67, said he felt like the astronaut Neil Armstrong. Photo: Fredrik Hagen / NTB / AFP
Svein Andersen, a resident of the Ellingsrudhjemmet elderly care home in Oslo, received his injection at 12.05am. 
 
“There was no pain whatsoever, no more than with any other vaccine,” he told the country's VG newspaper after receiving the jab. “It was a bit strange, almost a bit historic, a bit like when Armstrong went on the moon.” 
 
Before the injection, Anderson had spoken to Norway's prime minister, Erna Solberg, over a video link. 
 
 
“This is a day we've been awaiting for 291 days, ever since March 12th when we had to put in place severe measures in Norway,” she said. 
 
“This is a day of liberation. Because we are liberating ourselves from this virus. Now we have the vaccine, we can get back our every day life again.” 
 
Addressing Andersen, she said, “You will be a symbol of the start of vaccinations.” 
 
Over the next few days, all 146 residents in his home will be vaccinated, along with 5,000 residents at elderly care homes in the Norwegian capital, Oslo. 
 
Vaccinations are also due to begin on December 28th in Hvaler, Fredrikstad, Sarpsborg, Strange, Hamar, and Ringsaker. 
 
The country received 9,750 doses on December 27th. 
 
Here is a video showing the vaccination taking place. 
 

 
EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen hailed the start of the European Union's vaccination campaign as a “touching moment of unity and a European success story”.
 
Countries are showing different strategies in their vaccination targeting, with Italy focusing on health workers, France the elderly and in the Czech Republic the prime minister himself at the front of the queue.
 
In a sign of impatience, some EU countries began vaccinating on Saturday, a day before the official start, with a 101-year-old woman in a care home becoming the first person in Germany to be inoculated and Hungary and Slovakia also handing out their first shots.
 
 
 

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HEALTH

Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The World Health Organization's European office warned on Tuesday the risk of Covid-19 has not gone away, saying it was still responsible for nearly 1,000 deaths a week in the region. And the real figure may be much higher.

Published: 27 June 2023 13:27 CEST
Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The global health body on May 5 announced that the Covid-19 pandemic was no longer deemed a “global health emergency.”

“Whilst it may not be a global public health emergency, however, Covid-19 has not gone away,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge told reporters.

The WHO’s European region comprises 53 countries, including several in central Asia.

“Close to 1,000 new Covid-19 deaths continue to occur across the region every week, and this is an underestimate due to a drop in countries regularly reporting Covid-19 deaths to WHO,” Kluge added, and urged authorities to ensure vaccination coverage of at least 70 percent for vulnerable groups.

Kluge also said estimates showed that one in 30, or some 36 million people, in the region had experienced so called “long Covid” in the last three years, which “remains a complex condition we still know very little about.”

“Unless we develop comprehensive diagnostics and treatment for long Covid, we will never truly recover from the pandemic,” Kluge said, encouraging more research in the area which he called an under-recognised condition.

Most countries in Europe have dropped all Covid safety restrictions but some face mask rules remain in place in certain countries in places like hospitals.

Although Spain announced this week that face masks will no longer be required in certain healthcare settings, including hospitals and pharmacies, with a couple of exceptions.

Sweden will from July 1st remove some of its remaining Covid recommendations for the public, including advice to stay home and avoid close contact with others if you’re ill or have Covid symptoms.

The health body also urged vigilance in the face of a resurgence of mpox, having recorded 22 new cases across the region in May, and the health impact of heat waves.

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