“Even if nine out of ten Norwegians get vaccinated, we will most likely not achieve herd immunity,” assistant health director Espen Rostrup Nakstad believes.
“This is because the vaccines are not 100% effective against the spread of infection. They are perhaps 90% effective in the fully vaccinated,” he told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).
Nakstad says it seems that herd immunity will not be reached in any country in the world this autumn through the vaccination program.
“The vaccine is good against a dangerous disease course but not as good against the further spread of infection,” he pointed out.
In Norway, the health authorities’ goal is for at least 90% of everyone who gets the vaccine offer to say “yes.”
Limiting serious sickness
“It will limit the incidence of serious illness and hospitalizations to a great extent, but it does not seem that it will be enough to keep the virus away from Norway,” Nakstad admitted.
Nakstad believes there is cause for concern if infection rates continue to rise.
“With that, the probability of infection also increases among unvaccinated people in older age groups. If a lot of such people become infected before they have received their second vaccine dose, we can get more hospital admissions,” Nakstad told TV 2.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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