On Wednesday last week, the government decided that a large proportion of Norwegian municipalities will deliver vaccine doses to a smaller proportion of Norwegian municipalities that have been particularly hard hit by the epidemic. This is so that the reopening of Norway will take place as quickly and safely as possible.
However, the changes presuppose that the municipalities that have to deliver doses in June and the beginning of July have the capacity to scale up the vaccination capacity significantly in the latter part of July.
Øygarden municipality in Western Norway is asking the government to turn around, while some municipalities in Trøndelag state that the upscaling at the end of July will not be possible.
PRIORITIZES YOUNG PEOPLE: Prime Minister Erna Solberg presented the government’s new strategy for corona vaccine. Video: The government view more
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Asks the government to turn around
Crisis management in Øygarden municipality has made a thorough assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of implementing the more radical geographical redistribution of vaccines that the government and the health authorities have envisioned.
They conclude that the disadvantages will outweigh the advantages, and thus request that the announced changes in the vaccination strategy in Norway are not implemented.
– We see this as an attempt to solve the challenges in parts of the country, but believe that it creates major challenges for some of the municipalities that lose vaccines for a period. We see that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, and thus expect the ministry to reconsider its view, and continue with the strategy we have already planned for, says mayor Tom Georg Indrevik (H) to Dagbladet.
– Is it practically possible for you to scale up the capacity sufficiently?
– Of course, it will not be impossible, we have the ability to adapt, but we believe that the disadvantages are far greater than the advantages of making these changes.
The municipality’s crisis management points in particular to challenges related to resources, staffing and holiday planning. They also believe that the changes will lead to their citizens being fully vaccinated several months later than the inhabitants of the priority municipalities, which will have consequences for businesses that need corona passports to carry out necessary trips abroad.
DISTRIBUTION: Prime Minister Erna Solberg met with the press on 12 May to present the new vaccine strategy. It involves, among other things, a redistribution. Video: Ivan Larsson / Dagbladet view more
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Several municipalities say no
The state administrator in Trøndelag informs Dagbladet that they have received answers from 32 of 38 municipalities in the county.
The answers show that a majority of the municipalities in Trøndelag say that they must manage this, but at the same time the answers show that a not insignificant minority of the municipalities answer no to whether this can be done.
– Many of the municipalities express that it is demanding to plan for this, says vaccine coordinator Trude Søreng at the State Administrator in Trøndelag to Dagbladet.
Waiting for answer
The State Administrator in Nordland informs Dagbladet that they have not received any immediate feedback from the municipalities, but that the municipalities have a response deadline on Tuesday, and that the State Administrator in Nordland will deliver a summary feedback from the municipalities in the county to the Norwegian Directorate of Health on Wednesday.
“This time, the Norwegian Directorate of Health has not included information on the consequences of a geographical redistribution, and we therefore do not expect the municipalities to be able to assess their own capacity against such a scenario by 18 May,” senior adviser Elin Røshol told Dagbladet before the weekend.
JANSSEN-NEI: FHI chief physician Preben Aavitsland says that he does not want to take the Janssen vaccine. view more
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Challenges
Tuesday afternoon also reports VG that several municipalities say no to more vaccinations in July. Avisa writes, among other things, that Harstad and 13 other municipalities have signed a petition stating that they believe that geographical redistribution of vaccines will lead to major problems with the effective implementation of vaccination in these municipalities.
– Then perhaps many of those who work in the municipalities will go on holiday, in addition to the fact that perhaps many of those who will be vaccinated will go on holiday, and will have to move their vaccination agreement to later. And as if that were not enough, you will also have challenges related to students, who may not be in their hometown, but in the university city, and we must also find a solution for them, he said.
