– I and many other professors and doctors warned already in August against the current situation. Unfortunately, neither FHI nor responsible politicians have listened. I am very worried about both the elderly and the children, the first group has lost some of the vaccine protection. The children, who have not been fully vaccinated, will not die, but some will experience long-term problems even after mild disease courses, writes infection control researcher Jörgen Klein at the University of Southeast Norway in an e-mail to Dagbladet.
On Friday at eleven o’clock, Minister of Health and Care Services Ingvild Kjerkol (AP) and Minister of Justice and Emergency Management Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) will hold a press conference on the corona situation.
Vaccine benefit
– Vaccination is the best tool, but it does not help alone and will not slow down this wave. Let’s hope that it will be a merry Christmas and not a cruel Christmas, Klein writes.
Eiliv Lund, professor of epidemiology at the University of Tromsø, believes that the government must focus on vaccination efforts during the press conference on Friday.
– The most important question is whether we can do something for the hospitals. Several elderly people are being admitted, as has been witnessed several times during the pandemic, Lund tells Dagbladet and adds:
– It is no longer each hospital’s responsibility, but also a political responsibility.
The measures will continue
MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS: On Friday, Emilie Enger Mehl will be present during the press conference in connection with the corona situation. Photo: NTB
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Mehl was originally scheduled to attend the press conference last Friday, but withdrew at the last minute because the government wanted more time to consider entry restrictions.
– The Minister of Justice was originally to attend the press conference because she is responsible for issues related to entry. Now the government has decided to spend more time assessing the health authorities’ recommendations related to entry, wrote political adviser in the Ministry of Justice Trond Ivar Brække in an SMS to NTB, when the Minister of Justice did not attend the previous press conference.
On Friday, however, the Minister of Justice will attend the press conference. This may indicate that the government has had enough time to consider entry restrictions.
Among other things, Lund believes that today’s restrictions will be continued, when Kjerkol and Mehl hold a press conference on Friday morning.
71 employees infected in a short time
– Speed up the vaccination
On Tuesday, a new national daily record was set, with 2552 registered corona infections.
According to NTB, the number of corona patients on Thursday is 219 people, which indicates the highest number since April.
Lund hopes that the government encourages the vaccination to speed up, during Friday’s press conference.
– You have to get a donation for the vaccination. That is what solves the problem, he says.
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The number of fully vaccinated Norway is 3,780,041, according to FHI. It makes up 87.4 percent of the population.
– If we vaccinate as many people as possible, the infection pressure will decrease, Lund adds.
The infection has increased in several places in the country recently. On Thursday, Bergen had another infection record, and set the second daily record of the week. On Thursday, it was also reported that the infection challenges municipal services in Trondheim.
NIPH also said on Thursday that it is urgent to give the third dose of vaccine to the elderly. This is due to the fact that the number of admissions is increasing, and most of them are elderly and unvaccinated.
– Understand that it is demanding
Coronapass: – Maybe necessary
– In addition to the corona, there is the flu and RS virus, which also creates a great pressure on the hospitals.
Lund says that he thinks the virus will be active until late winter, before it disappears more, as we have seen before.
When asked if he thinks there are a lot of dark numbers when it comes to infected people, he answers:
– I do not think so anymore It is tested so much now, so I do not think great, hidden potential.
He believes coronapass is a good alternative in Norway.
– The use of corona passes arouses some resistance, but it may be necessary, also for the sake of those who have been vaccinated, Lund says.
On Friday, it became clear that the government will introduce a regulation that gives municipalities the opportunity to adopt local use of corona passports.
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