Norway has no plans to introduce special rules for unvaccinated people

Several European countries are introducing their own rules for unvaccinated people. High vaccination coverage is one of the reasons why that will probably not happen in Norway.

The French National Assembly has passed a law that makes vaccination mandatory for all health workers and requires corona passports for travel and visiting restaurants. 

The law requires that everyone who works in the health sector is vaccinated by September 15, otherwise, they risk being suspended.

Corona passport requirements are also introduced for visiting restaurants, traveling by train and plane, and in public places. The requirement applies to all adults but will, from September 30, be extended to apply to everyone over the age of twelve.

Not assessed in Norway

Italy will introduce similar laws to France, with health passports to prove that people are protected or have tested negative before they can work out at gyms, visit museums or go to restaurants.

Germany is also considering its own infection control measures for the unvaccinated, who may be denied access to bars and other places where the vaccinated can now travel.

“Norway has no plans to introduce its own rules for people who have been vaccinated, and it is completely voluntary to get vaccinated,” State Secretary Saliba Andreas Korkunc (H) told news bureau NTB.

The main rule is that a negative corona test should be equated with vaccination and immunity after contracting coronavirus.

“When the corona certificate was introduced, it was important for the government that the corona certificate should provide relief, not set restrictions, and that this should also apply to the unprotected who are testing themselves,” Korkunc said.

High vaccine coverage

There is very good support for the vaccination program in Norway among the general population, and a high level of vaccination coverage in the adult part of the population will likely be reached, infection control director Geir Bukholm at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) informed NTB.

“The development of the epidemic will be followed closely in the future, especially with regard to the effect that the spread of the delta variant will have on disease development, both in vaccinated and unvaccinated persons. But there have been no plans to introduce similar regulations in Norway,” he said.

The development of infection in Norway has been stably low over the past two months, while more and more people are being vaccinated. This is despite a sustained reopening with a major easing of restrictions and greater mobility, and an increasing number of travelers in and out of the country.

The delta variant is now dominant in Norway, and the number of inpatients in the last month has been between 17 and 30. At the peak of the infection, there were over 300 inpatients with coronavirus in Norway.

Second dose important

However, it is expected that the infection will increase somewhat in the future. Bukholm is now concerned with people getting a second dose as soon as possible.

In the country, around 300,000 vaccine doses are now administered each week. More than 90% of people over the age of 65 are fully vaccinated. 

Last week, all residents in Oslo over the age of 18 had been offered the first dose of vaccine, and soon that will apply to the whole country.

“Overall, this has a good effect on reducing the spread of infection. This also applies to the spread of the delta variant. However, we get the best effect when even more people have received two doses of vaccine,” Bukholm said.

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

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