PandemicPreparedness

15 July: The Norwegian government plans to offer the COVID-19 vaccine to individuals aged 16 to 17 years old, but only after those aged 18 and over have been fully vaccinated. A final decision is expected after the Folkehelseinstituttet (Norway’s public health institute) have re-evaluated the situation in September. It is anticipated that vaccination of this group will not commence until October at the earliest. At the beginning of July, approximately 236,000 Oslo residents aged 18 to 44 years old, and 40,000 residents over the age of 45 years, still hadn't received their first dose, but this was set to decrease from the middle of July.

A new study has shown that more than 90% of Norwegians are willing to accept the state's offer of vaccination. The downside of this is that delays have occurred because vaccine supplies haven't met demand, although this situation is now improving with the arrival of more vaccine doses. During July, Oslo is expected to receive 161,000 vaccine doses, meaning that 100,000 individuals will receive their first dose. The remaining 61,000 will be used as second doses. Norway intends to donate all new deliveries of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to countries in need. The country has already received 3,885 doses and is due another 100,000 doses in July, and more than 700,000 in August.

28 May: A review conducted in Norway and published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has found that Pfizer BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine may have been responsible for deaths in some elderly, frail patients. The expert group was established at the end of February 2021 to look into the cause of the first 100 reported deaths of nursing home residents who had received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The review reported on 19 May and concluded that a causal link between the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and death was considered “likely” in 10 of the 100 cases, “possible” in 26 cases, and “unlikely” in 59 cases. The remaining five were deemed “unclassifiable.” Although there is some uncertainty around these conclusions, "the expert group acknowledged a risk that adverse reactions to the vaccines among very frail patients could initiate a cascade of complications, which in the worst case scenario could lead to earlier death." Authorities advise hat doctors should assess such patients individually to determine whether the benefits of vaccination outweigh the side effects.

Additionally, Officials plan to introduce vaccine certificates by early June, to allow fully vaccinated citizens to leave the country for non-essential travel. These certificates will be in compliance with the EU travel certificate, which is likely to be rolled-out by June end.

13 May 2021: The vaccination programme is likely to accelerate between May and July when the country is expected to receive over 4 million doses of mRNA vaccines. Officials decided not to resume the use of AstraZeneca vaccine in Norway. The Janssen/Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine was also approved for use but its roll-out was postponed. Both these vaccines are reported to be associated with a serious side effect of causing blood clots.

To further accelerate vaccination, authorities recommend that people between 18 and 24 years of age and above be vaccinated at the same time as 40-44 year-old age group and 35-39 year age group be vaccinated along with 25-34 year age group. Modelling studies have shown a benefit to alternate between oldest and younger age groups. Authorities also plan to distribute vaccines based on incidence of infection and hospital admission; so, at least 24 municipalities in Eastern Norway that have reported persistently high infection rates will receive 80% more doses until the healthy population 18 years and above are not fully vaccinated.

1 May 2021: The Ministry of Health has decided to extend the interval between the two doses on mRNA vaccines (Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna) to 12 weeks. The earlier interval was 6 weeks. This has been done to ensure that larger numbers of people can receive the vaccine as soon as possible. This extension applies to people below 65-years without any comorbidities.

11 March 2021: Public health authorities have halted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Media are reporting the decision comes after reports of blood clotting issues. The Danish Health Authority was the first to indefinitely suspend use of the vaccine, and the official notice may be read here (in Danish). The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has reported that the benefits still outweigh the risks. You may read our article here.

28 December 2020: Authorities announced a man in Oslo was the first person to be vaccinated. Ten thousand doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine were received on 26 December. From 28 December, vaccination of 5,000 elderly people in nursing homes in the municipalities of Oslo, Stange, Hamar, Ringsaker, Sarpsborg, Fredrikstad and Hvaler will start. Vaccination is voluntary and free of charge. Information on the vaccination programme is available here.