The Norwegian government aims for everyone over the age of 18 to be offered a booster dose by the end of February 2022.
“The goal now is for everyone over the age of 18 to be offered a booster dose by the end of February next year. The municipalities will be sent doses to make this possible,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (AP) noted in a press release on Sunday night.
The recent recommendation from the National Institute of Public Health (FHI) is that everyone aged 18–44 is offered a booster dose when at least 20 weeks have passed since their second dose.
In the press release, the government writes that it is particularly important that people with underlying diseases and conditions with a moderately increased risk of a serious course of COVID-19, aged 18–44, take the booster dose. This also applies to the oldest people in this age group and those who have occupational or other increased exposure to infection.
Pregnant women will also be offered the booster dose
The FHI also recommends that pregnant women in the age group 18–44 take a booster dose in the second and third trimesters or in the first trimester if they have other additional risks.
The government has set a goal of offering a booster dose to everyone over the age of 45 by mid-January. The municipalities have been asked to prioritize this age group, as well as risk groups in general, health personnel, and employees in schools and kindergartens before administering booster doses to the age group between 18 and 45 years.
“The municipalities now have increased flexibility in vaccination and can also give vaccines to people under the age of 45 when 20 weeks have passed since the second dose was administered if they have the capacity to do so. Booster doses for adults may contribute to better protection against serious illness and death. Therefore, it is important that as many people as possible say ‘yes’ to the vaccine,” Minister of Health and Care Services Ingvild Kjerkol (AP) said.
“The number of the unvaccinated is too high”
The government also noted that the work of reaching those who still haven’t taken the vaccine is beginning to have an effect.
“In recent weeks, we have seen that more people who have previously said ‘no’ are now visiting the vaccination centers. This is a gratifying development, but the number of unvaccinated people is still too high. The better protected we become, the earlier we can open up the country,” Støre explained.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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