Sweden Aims to Get 2 Million Covid Vaccines in First Quarter
Sweden Aims to Get 2 Million Covid Vaccines in First Quarter
(Bloomberg) -- Sweden expects to get enough Covid-19 vaccines to immunize a fifth of the population in the first quarter of 2021, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said Friday.
Sweden has secured vaccines from Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc., AstraZeneca Plc, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc and CureVac NV through European Union agreements. Immunizations are scheduled to start on a smaller scale in January, with 4 million doses -- enough for 2 million people - expected to be delivered by the end of March.
The vaccination program will give priority to residents and staff at care homes, as well as the elderly receiving assistance at home, Public Health Agency director-general Johan Carlson said at a news briefing. That group is estimated at 570,000 people in the nation of 10 million. Following that, health-care staff, people older than 70 and other at-risk individuals will be offered the vaccine before it is made available to the remaining 6 million Swedes.
The European Medicines Agency plans to decide whether or not to approve the vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech SE on Dec. 29. A similar decision on Moderna’s vaccine is scheduled for Jan. 12 at the latest.
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