Oslo and Bergen are also asking the Armed Forces for vaccine assistance – VG

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This coming Monday, the Armed Forces’ first vaccine team will begin its work to assist Fredrikstad municipality in setting vaccines.

But other, larger municipalities have also asked the Armed Forces to assist in increasing the pace and capacity of vaccination. On Friday afternoon, it became known that Oslo Municipality has also approached the Armed Forces with a view to obtaining assistance.

Upscale capacity

– Increased infection and disease pressure in society increases the risk of high sickness absence and that more and more people have to go into isolation and quarantine. The municipality has scaled up capacity sharply, but has sent a request to the Armed Forces to assist with vaccination and testing to ensure that capacity can be maintained. Oslo municipality has asked for 40 people to assist with vaccination and 36 people to assist with testing, the city council department for health writes in an e-mail to VG on Friday afternoon.

The municipality will by 15 January offer an hour for dose 3 to everyone over 45 years, and the population between 18 – 64 years with underlying risk.

– We are well underway, and seven of eleven vaccine centers have already started convening the group 45 – 54 years. In addition, health personnel are vaccinated, and summons of employees in schools and kindergartens is starting these days, according to Ingunn Rakstang Eck in the city council department.

Fredrikstad first out

Earlier Friday, VG was able to report that Fredrikstad municipality is the first to use the Armed Forces’ vaccination team. The work in Østfold municipality starts on Monday, according to the Armed Forces’ operational headquarters (FOH).

– This is what has so far been specifically planned to be implemented. The work is performed by a team with a doctor or with authorization from a doctor, nurses and personnel with a medical background. In each team there are 16-17 people, says spokesperson in FOH, Preben Aursand to VG.

The defense is now processing other needs which has been reported by the municipalities, and will in a short time dispose of several of the vaccine teams that are on standby, according to Aursand.

You mobile team

On Monday, the government decided to deploy the Armed Forces to assist hard-pressed municipalities in setting the third dose, which everyone over the age of 45 will receive by mid-January.

The next day, the Armed Forces was ready for action. Ten mobile vaccination teams are on standby to move out and assist municipalities that are lagging behind with the vaccination.

Trondheim is also in dialogue with the Armed Forces about assistance for this work, could VG report Thursday.

High demand

It has not yet been decided when the Armed Forces will assist Oslo Municipality with the vaccination.

– Do you have special challenges related to further vaccination in Oslo, Eck?

– Oslo Municipality is experiencing a large influx of bookings of hours for the days before Christmas and during Christmas. The vaccine centers have good capacity. The population is encouraged to book an appointment as soon as possible after receiving an SMS notification, then you will have the most hours to choose from, Ingunn Rakstang Eck answers.

She reminds that it is also possible to contact the vaccine centers for help in booking an appointment after receiving an SMS notification.

The municipality encourages everyone to attend the class they have been called to.

– It delays progress when people do not show up at the agreed time, Eck emphasizes.

Vaccination at pharmacies

Oslo Municipality is also in dialogue with the Pharmacists’ Association about vaccination at the city’s pharmacies.

– National health authorities are working to simplify how the municipalities can enter into agreements with local pharmacies, to set dose 3. Oslo municipality has had an agreement with the Pharmacy Association and is in dialogue about further cooperation, but will now first look at whether the national agreement can ensure for faster vaccination in Oslo, according to the city council department for health.

Bergen wants help with testing and vaccination

Bergen and several municipalities in Western Norway will have help with testing and vaccination from the Armed Forces, reports BT.

– We are positive that the Armed Forces support the municipalities in Western Norway in the vaccination work, it is stated in a summary that was sent to the Norwegian Directorate of Health on Thursday afternoon.

For the vaccination work, the following needs for the municipalities are listed:

• Support from vaccination teams. An important task will be mass vaccination, especially in the larger municipalities around Bergen, such as Alver, Askøy, Bjørnafjorden and Øygarden.
• Municipalities outside the Bergen area especially want mobile teams, such as vaccination buses, which can vaccinate outside the municipal centers, preferably in the evening.
• Mobile teams are also wanted to visit the schools during the day.

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