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COVID-19

Half of Swedish adults have received a Covid-19 vaccine pass

Eight million Covid vaccine passes have been issued to 4.5 million Swedish residents so far, the e-Health Agency reports. This means that around half of Sweden's adult population have accessed the service.

Published: 3 December 2021 15:56 CET
a man checks a vaccine pass in Sweden
Vaccine passes have been required at indoor events of over 100 attendees, like film showings in cinemas, since December 1st. Photo: Christine Olsson/TT

The e-Health Agency is responsible for issuing Swedish vaccine passes, which have been required at some indoor events with over 100 guests since December 1st.

The agency’s spokesperson Jan Pettersson told newswire TT that there are a number of possible explanations for the high number of issued vaccine passes compared to how many people have received one.

“Some people may have ordered a vaccine pass earlier during the summer, which may no longer be valid. Or maybe they just forgot where they saved it. You can download a pass really quickly,” he said.

Passes issued before October 1st were only valid for three months – since then, they have been valid for six months.

Downloading a vaccine pass from covidbevis.se is usually quick and easy, unless you don’t have a Swedish e-ID like BankID, meaning you have to apply via post.

“Right now there’s extremely high pressure. You’ll have to wait at least a few weeks,” warned Pettersson.

Some groups are also still excluded from the vaccine pass system, despite being fully vaccinated. This includes people who were vaccinated abroad, as well as people vaccinated in Sweden who were vaccinated under a temporary reservnummer.

The Local has covered this issue in a series of articles since the passes launched on July 1st, although at the time Sweden only used them for exemptions to border restrictions. 

In October the government ordered the e-Health Agency to develop a system by the end of 2021 that would enable them to issue the Covid vaccine passes to people who are based in Sweden and are fully vaccinated, but are currently unable to get a certificate to prove it.

A spokesperson for the Health Ministry told The Local at the end of November that the e-Health Agency now has the “technical solution” for this ready, but authorities are still working on ironing out legal details which are needed for healthcare administrators to report vaccines for these groups to the right databases.

“The work is ongoing with the goal of being able to start using the solution from January 1st 2022,” the spokesperson confirmed in an email.

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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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