FHI: Vaccination of 16- and 17-year-olds in Norway could reduce deaths in 2021 by up to 30%

According to the FHI’s models, vaccination of 16- and 17-year-olds could result in up to 30% fewer deaths this year, newspaper VG writes.

“This group does not have a high risk of serious illness, so for 16-17-year-olds, the aim is to reduce infection – which would have a positive effect on the infection situation in the entire population,” Birgitte de Blasio, who leads FHI’s modeling team, told VG on Monday.

Last week, the Norwegian government decided that 16- and 17-year-olds would be offered vaccines after the population over 18 has been fully vaccinated.

The FHI is now calculating how many lives could be saved by vaccinating children aged 12 to 15 years. Next week, the FHI’s modeling team will be finished with new models.

Latest FHI models

The latest models that the FHI provided for the vaccination of 16- and 17-year-olds showed that the age group 10-19 years would account for a large proportion of infections in the autumn and contribute disproportionately to the circulation of the virus after all adults have been offered the vaccine.

Assistant health director Espen Rostrup Nakstad told VG on Sunday that in a few weeks, most of the infected will be children and young people. 

He estimates that Norway will approach 1,300 infected per day in early September and that most of these cases will include children and adolescents.

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

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