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READER QUESTIONS

Reader question: How do I get a Covid booster jab in Sweden?

The Covid vaccine is still free for everyone in Sweden, even if you don't belong to a group at particular risk of serious infection.

Published: 16 October 2023 10:48 CEST
Updated: 3 November 2023 06:20 CET
Reader question: How do I get a Covid booster jab in Sweden?
The Covid-19 vaccine is still free for everyone in Sweden. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

It is possible to get vaccinated against Covid at any time, but the Public Health Agency recommends that people generally wait until after November 7th, when an updated vaccine against the virus will be available. This is also to coincide with the start of seasonal influenza vaccinations and because the agency believes that the timing will be ideal to get those at risk vaccinated before the infection peak.

The Covid vaccine is free for everyone and the flu vaccine is additionally free for over-65s and people who belong to risk groups (see below for more information). People who don’t fit this category can still get the Covid vaccine for free at any time, but they have to pay around 200-400 kronor to get the flu vaccine, depending on where in Sweden they live. They will likely also have to wait a few weeks after the launch of the seasonal flu vaccination campaign on November 7th until everyone who needs the flu vaccine has had a chance to get it.

How to book a time for the Covid vaccine or booster varies depending on which Swedish region you live in.

Some regions may send out reminders to people in risk groups, but in other regions people have to contact health centres themselves.

Here’s how it works in Sweden’s three biggest regions as an example: In Stockholm, you can book a time in the region’s Alltid öppet app, contact your health centre or a vaccination centre directly, or visit a drop-in vaccination centre. In Västra Götaland, you can book a time online here or contact a health centre. In Skåne, you can book a time online, visit a drop-in centre or call a health centre.

The best way to find the regional rules is to go to the Covid vaccine page on national healthcare website 1177.se and choose your region (välj region) at the top of the page. If you don’t have a Swedish personal identity number, it’s usually best to call a health centre directly.

Here are the specific Covid vaccine recommendations for all age brackets:

Under-18s

Sweden no longer has a recommendation in place for children and teenagers aged 12-17 to get vaccinated against Covid. The Public Health Agency recommends that under-18s only get vaccinated in individual cases on a doctor’s specific recommendation.

People aged 18-49

There’s no longer any recommendation to get vaccinated against Covid for people aged 18-49 who don’t have an underlying health condition. However, people who belong to this group and would like to get vaccinated may do so, and the vaccine is free for them.

If it’s a booster, at least nine months must have passed since the last dose.

See below for information for over-18s with an underlying health condition, including pregnancy.

People aged 50-64

Unvaccinated people aged 50-64 are recommended to get one dose of the Covid vaccine this winter.

There’s no general recommendation for vaccinated people in the same age bracket, but the same rules as above apply to them: the booster dose is free and nine months must have passed since the last one.

People aged 65-79 and over-18s with an underlying health condition

People aged 65-79 are recommended to get a dose of the Covid vaccine this winter, regardless of whether or not they have previously been vaccinated. If they’ve had confirmed Covid-19 after August 1st and are in good health, they can choose not to get a booster dose, but if there’s any doubt whether or not they actually had Covid, they too are recommended to get a dose of the vaccine this winter.

If people in this group got vaccinated ahead of the autumn before the updated vaccine was available, they may get another dose, but at least three months have to pass between the doses.

The same recommendations apply to people who are aged over 18 and belong to a group especially at risk of developing serious Covid infection. These groups include pregnant people (after week 12) and adults with conditions such as chronic heart or lung disease, obesity, liver or kidney failure, diabetes, and people with weakened immune systems due to illness or ongoing medical treatment.

The flu vaccine is available for free for over-18s with underlying health conditions, including pregnancy, and over-65s and you can get both vaccines at the same time. The influenza vaccination season will start from November 7th, although there may be regional variations.

People aged 80 or older

People who are older than 80 or live in care homes for the elderly are recommended to get vaccinated against Covid this winter. If they’ve already had a booster this autumn, they may get another dose once the updated vaccine is available, at least three months after their last dose.

This guide is meant to be helpful and was correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. If in doubt about anything regarding your medical situation or vaccine recommendations, always speak with a healthcare provider. You can’t book a vaccine via Sweden’s national healthcare helpline 1177, but you can call them for advice in Swedish or English.

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For members

TRAVEL NEWS

How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

As European travellers prepare for the introduction of enhanced passport checks known as the Entry & Exit System (EES), many readers have asked us what this means for the '90-day rule' for non-EU citizens.

Published: 1 May 2024 07:18 CEST
How do the EU's new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

From the start date to the situation for dual nationals and non-EU residents living in the EU, it’s fair to say that readers of The Local have a lot of questions about the EU’s new biometric passport check system known as EES.

You can find our full Q&A on how the new system will work HERE, or leave us your questions HERE.

And one of the most commonly-asked questions was what the new system changes with regards to the 90-day rule – the rule that allows citizens of certain non-EU countries (including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to spend up to 90 days in every 180 in the EU without needing a visa.

And the short answer is – nothing. The key thing to remember about EES is that it doesn’t actually change any rules on immigration, visas etc.

Therefore the 90-day rule continues as it is – but what EES does change is the enforcement of the rule.

90 days 

The 90-day rule applies to citizens of a select group of non-EU countries;

Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, El Salvador, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Macau, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela.

Citizens of these countries can spend up to 90 days in every 180 within the EU or Schengen zone without needing a visa or residency permit.

People who are citizens of neither the EU/Schengen zone nor the above listed countries need a visa even for short trips into the EU – eg an Indian or Chinese tourist coming for a two-week holiday would require a visa. 

In total, beneficiaries of the 90-day rule can spend up to six months in the EU, but not all in one go. They must limit their visits so that in any 180-day (six month) period they have spent less than 90 days (three months) in the Bloc.

READ ALSO How does the 90-day rule work?

The 90 days are calculated according to a rolling calendar so that at any point in the year you must be able to count backwards to the last 180 days, and show that you have spent less than 90 of them in the EU/Schengen zone.

You can find full details on how to count your days HERE.

If you wish to spend more than 90 days at a time you will have to leave the EU and apply for a visa for a longer stay. Applications must be done from your home country, or via the consulate of your home country if you are living abroad.

Under EES 90-day rule beneficiaries will still be able to travel visa free (although ETIAS will introduce extra changes, more on that below).

EES does not change either the rule or how the days are calculated, but what it does change is the enforcement.

Enforcement

One of the stated aims of the new system is to tighten up enforcement of ‘over-stayers’ – that is people who have either overstayed the time allowed on their visa or over-stayed their visa-free 90 day period.

At present border officials keep track of your time within the Bloc via manually stamping passports with the date of each entry and exit to the Bloc. These stamps can then be examined and the days counted up to ensure that you have not over-stayed.

The system works up to a point – stamps are frequently not checked, sometimes border guards incorrectly stamp a passport or forget to stamp it as you leave the EU, and the stamps themselves are not always easy to read.

What EES does is computerise this, so that each time your passport is scanned as you enter or leave the EU/Schengen zone, the number of days you have spent in the Bloc is automatically tallied – and over-stayers will be flagged.

For people who stick to the limits the system should – if it works correctly – actually be better, as it will replace the sometimes haphazard manual stamping system.

But it will make it virtually impossible to over-stay your 90-day limit without being detected.

The penalties for overstaying remain as they are now – a fine, a warning or a ban on re-entering the EU for a specified period. The penalties are at the discretion of each EU member state and will vary depending on your personal circumstances (eg how long you over-stayed for and whether you were working or claiming benefits during that time).

ETIAS 

It’s worth mentioning ETIAS at this point, even though it is a completely separate system to EES, because it will have a bigger impact on travel for many people.

ETIAS is a different EU rule change, due to be introduced some time after EES has gone live (probably in 2025, but the timetable for ETIAS is still somewhat unclear).

It will have a big impact on beneficiaries of the 90-day rule, effectively ending the days of paperwork-free travel for them.

Under ETIAS, beneficiaries of the 90-rule will need to apply online for a visa waiver before they travel. Technically this is a visa waiver rather than a visa, but it still spells the end of an era when 90-day beneficiaries can travel without doing any kind of immigration paperwork.

If you have travelled to the US in recent years you will find the ETIAS system very similar to the ESTA visa waiver – you apply online in advance, fill in a form and answer some questions and are sent your visa waiver within a couple of days.

ETIAS will cost €7 (with an exemption for under 18s and over 70s) and will last for three years.

Find full details HERE. 

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