There is reason to believe that close to 90 percent of the adult population has been fully vaccinated in Norway, says infection control director Geir Bukholm at the National Institute of Public Health. This despite that the statistics shows that 85 percent of the adult population is fully vaccinated.
– The vaccination program has a goal that 90 percent of the population 18 years and older will be fully vaccinated. We are very close to that goal now, Bukholm declares to Dagbladet.
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Actually higher
FHI’s overview shows that close to 91 per cent of the adult population in Norway have received the first dose, while 85 per cent have received the second dose. But Bukholm believes that the real number is higher.
– In addition, there are some who have undergone infection, and have only received one dose, but who have the status of fully vaccinated, says Bukholm and says that this group is in addition to those who have been registered with two doses in FHI’s overviews.
Bukholm estimates that this group makes up about two percentage points, so that in fact about 87 per cent of the adult population are fully vaccinated.
– There are probably also some who have been vaccinated in their home country outside Norway, but who are not registered in SYSVAK (vaccination register journ.anm.). This means that we are close to 90 percent of the population 18 and older who are fully vaccinated.
PARTY: Minister of Culture and Gender Equality Abid Raja (V) came directly from Venice to a dance floor in Oslo, to free the reopening of Norway on Saturday 25 September. Video: Tips view more
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The tempo drops
FHI now sees that the vaccination rate is falling, and Bukholm says that they have been prepared for it to go slower when Norway approaches 90 percent. At the same time, there are 400,000 people among the adult population in Norway who are not registered with the first dose.
– Some of these may be people who have actually made a conscious choice not to receive the offer of vaccination, others may be people who have not been reached with good enough information and some may have been vaccinated in their home country outside Norway without this has been registered in SYSVAK, says Bukholm.
– The group consists of many subgroups and we are constantly working to get an overview of the group to have more targeted measures where we believe that we have not reached well enough with information about the vaccines and vaccination.
From week 41, it is important that the municipalities are allowed to prioritize influenza vaccination, Bukholm believes.
– We think that will go well. At the same time, it is important that the municipalities can also provide a vaccination offer to those who still want to receive a dose of one or two. The activity in the coronary vaccination program is now so moderate that we do not believe that the flu vaccination will be strongly affected.
HEALTH COUNCIL: Robert Steen in Oslo municipality. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB view more
Vaccination status in Oslo
In Oslo, 89 percent of the adult population has received the first dose, while 85 percent are fully vaccinated, health councilor Robert Steen tells Dagbladet. 11 percent of the adult population in Oslo is registered as unvaccinated.
– We still see a need to continue with the vaccination during the autumn holidays in order to get more people fully vaccinated. There are groups that for various reasons have had to postpone vaccination, for example due to undergoing covid-19, or recently pregnant women who have chosen to wait until after birth to take the vaccine, Steen says.
The Health Council hopes that all Oslo citizens who are offered the flu vaccine will accept the offer.
– The vaccination starts after the autumn holidays when the districts have received the vaccines from FHI. I hope that everyone who is offered the flu vaccine takes it. Influenza and corona are not a good combination either for those who become ill or for the hospitals that will then have more hospitalized.
– Influenza vaccination takes place as usual at the GPs for the risk groups, and under the auspices of the employer for health personnel and other employees in the health and care service who have close contact with patients during treatment or care. Some districts will also organize offers at the vaccination centers for priority target groups.
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RS-virus
Furthermore, Steen can tell that children with RS virus have already been admitted to hospitals. According to Steen, the hospitals say that it is earlier than usual, but that the number is far below seasonal peaks that the hospitals are used to seeing.
– In the emergency room, we have registered an increasing number of respiratory infections. Both the hospitals and the emergency room are preparing for a large influx of patients with respiratory infections throughout the autumn. It becomes important that we stay at home when we have a cold or other respiratory symptoms.
