On 27 December 2020, Svein Andersen received Norway’s first corona vaccine. It was recommended that everyone get vaccinated. Two years later, approximately 90% of Norway’s population over the age of 18 has taken a dose. It is now open for everyone to receive a fourth dose of corona vaccine: FHI opens up, but does not recommend a fourth dose for this group. Why? Who is recommended the fourth dose of corona vaccine? people in the age group 65 years and elderly people in the age group 18-64 years with an underlying risk of serious disease course young people in the age group 12-17 years with a serious underlying disease pregnant women in the 2nd and 3rd trimester Source: FHI No medical basis for recommendation FHI gives direct recommendations about fourth dose to a selected group. The rest must comply with the following wording: “It has also been opened up that if you are in the age group 18-64 and have no risk conditions, you have the option of taking a new refresher dose if you wish.” What does that really mean? Everyone can take a fourth dose of corona vaccine if they wish. Does that mean they should take it? Photo: Ola Helness – We have not found a medical basis to come up with a clear recommendation for a new refresher dose for those aged 18-64 without risk conditions, says Are Stuwitz Berg in FHI. – But it is an approved vaccine and we have enough doses. It is therefore difficult to refuse people to take another dose if they wish. – Should this group make an assessment based on what they themselves feel or believe? – Yes, they have to decide for themselves whether they see a need of their own, Berg replies. DECIDE FOR YOURSELF: Senior doctor Are Stuwitz Berg in FHI says people must decide for themselves whether they want a fourth dose of the corona vaccine. Photo: Torstein Bøe He adds: – We recommend that the individual obtain information where they are going to be vaccinated or at fhi.no. This is similar to the flu vaccine, answers Berg. The statistics show that very few people in Norway have taken dose 4: – Completely contrary to previous practice Throughout the pandemic, we have received both clear recommendations and requirements from the authorities. Now you have to consider whether it is a good idea to take the fourth dose. Line Joranger, professor of cultural and social psychology at USN, says this is completely contrary to previous practice. – The intended freedom that FHI seems to be aiming for makes many of us insecure and at a loss. Photo: University of Southeast Norway – The authorities have been very clear in their normative and political recommendations and directives on vaccination, isolation and lockdown. That this group is now left to fend for itself, she says, can be problematic. – With this statement, FHI suggests that people must use their own common sense. We are thus ourselves responsible for the consequences of our choices, without fully knowing what these consequences are, apart from a general list of side effects that may or may not occur. Are you going to take the fourth dose of corona vaccine? Yes No I’m not sure I’ve already taken the fourth dose Show result The professor says people largely need guiding norms, limits and assessments to feel confident that the choices we make are good. – Without any kind of recommendations, we suddenly find ourselves in a situation without borders or other things that can help us orientate ourselves in an uncertain world. This is called a nihilistic situation. The fact that the guides are now gone, Joranger believes, leads to nihilistic tendencies: – Nihilistic tendencies have often made themselves felt in cultural transition periods as a counter-reaction to too much control, management and commands, as was the case during the “corona era”. – Too many or too few recommendations can make us insecure and confused, a feeling of being overruled or forgotten, something in between would have been good. As Nietzsche put it in 1885: Nihilism is at the door. Where does this strange guest come from? Like other medicines and vaccines It is completely open to taking a fourth dose, but whether it is a good idea or not we have to find out for ourselves. So what do the experts say? Rebecca Jane Cox, professor and head of the flu center at the University of Bergen, says the elderly, pregnant women and those with underlying illnesses should definitely take the vaccine. Just as FHI has recommended. Rebecca Cox says she herself took the fourth dose of corona vaccine before traveling to India. Photo: University of Bergen / Jorgen Barth But others can also have good reasons for taking the vaccine, she explains. – If you are very worried about getting corona, I would recommend the vaccine. Those who are exposed to children in school and kindergarten, as well as those who work in the healthcare system, should also take the vaccine. Vaccine researcher Gunnveig Grødeland emphasizes that there are no academic arguments for healthy people under 65 to take a fourth dose. Gunnveig Grødeland says that it is important that people in the risk groups take the fourth dose, but that healthy people under the age of 65 are already well protected against serious illness through vaccination and illness. Photo: Ola Sæther – More is not better when it comes to the immune system. You have to hit the right level. The immune system is a balance between activation and suppression, she explains and adds: – Too strong responses do more harm than good. Grødeland also points out that the third vaccine dose was never directly recommended either, but that it was open to you if you want. – There weren’t that many people who understood it. With that experience, we could perhaps learn that it is important to communicate more clearly. ALSO READ:
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