FHI asks Norwegian students who will study abroad this autumn to get in touch for corona vaccination

The National Institute of Public Health (FHI) wants all Norwegian students who will study abroad this autumn to be vaccinated before they travel. To achieve this, the students must register.

“The municipalities do not have information about which of their inhabitants are students that will study abroad. The municipalities depend on such students to contact them to register for vaccination, both for the first and the second dose,” Helge Eide at the municipal sector’s organization (KS) told news bureau NTB.

In an information letter to the country’s municipalities, dated early June, the FHI wrote that international students should receive the second dose of the corona vaccine before they travel.

This applies to just under 15,000 people, Eide stated. After the FHI made the recommendation, several municipalities have sent out notices that students who will study abroad must register.

No right guaranteed

Whether the municipalities have capacity is another question. Chief physician Preben Aavitsland at the FHI told NTB that the municipalities must assess whether they are able to vaccinate students who are going abroad.

“We have encouraged the municipalities to find solutions so that Norwegian students who are going to study abroad can receive two doses before leaving. The municipalities themselves must assess whether they can manage this. This is not a right that the students have,” he stated.

Not enough vaccines

The country’s municipalities have not come very far in the vaccination process, but Aavitsland states that the municipalities should have the capacity in terms of work.

“The problem is probably that they have few vaccines,” he said.

If the municipalities do not get all the students who are going to study abroad vaccinated, one possibility could be to postpone their departure. But there are other solutions.

“Another possibility is to get the last dose at the place where they will study, but the students must communicate with the campus about that,” he said.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayEducation

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