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VACCINE

Norway to receive up to one million fewer doses of AstraZeneca vaccine

Covid-19 Vaccine supplier AstraZeneca will in the coming months deliver up to one million fewer does of its vaccine to Norway than previously anticipated.

Published: 12 March 2021 17:24 CET
Norway to receive up to one million fewer doses of AstraZeneca vaccine
Photo: Martin BUREAU / AFP

The National Institute for Public Health (NIPH) said on Thursday that it will be receiving approximately 670,000 doses during the period between April and June.

The health authority previously expected to receive between 890,0000 to 1,670,000 doses in April, May and June.

“This is an approximately 60 percent reduction in the second quarter, if we take into account the most optimistic estimate,” Knut Jønsrud, department leader for vaccine supply for NIPH, told newspaper VG.

This is likely to have an impact on NIPH’s vaccine program, although the national health service operates with plans for both an optimistic and a pessimistic scenario.

The NIPH, which yesterday paused the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution over fears of a link to blood clots, is now working to update its schedule.

Norway did receive a boost to its vaccination program on Friday when it was announced that another vaccine supplier, Johnson & Johnson, would be delivering over 900,000 doses beginning in mid-April.

The cut in the number of vaccines being reduced is due to the AstraZeneca halving the number of doses it planned to send to the EU.

Denmark will also receive almost one million fewer doses between April, May and June as a result of AstraZeneca reducing its expected supply to the EU.

READ ALSO: AstraZeneca suspension: Blood-clot risk ‘no higher in vaccinated people’

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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.

Published: 23 December 2022 10:53 CET
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.” 

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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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