– We now have a situation where there is a lot of infection throughout Europe, but we have vaccinated the vast majority. That’s according to the assistant director of health, Espen Rostrup Nakstad. B.A. 5 is still the omicron variant of which there has been most in Norway, but now BF. 7 on the way in. It makes up 1 in 10 virus samples in Norway, which are analyzed by FHI. It was VG who mentioned the case first. May have an impact on the vaccines – What is a bit special now is that this BF. 7 and a number of other variants that we have, have changes in five places in particular that code for this spike protein. And these changes can affect the vaccine you have taken and its protection. – This means that we must expect that the vaccine may not protect as well as it has done in the past, at least when it comes to contagion. But it is not certain that it has such a big impact on whether you become seriously ill or not. Nakstad also emphasizes that there are constantly new variants of the coronavirus. – It has been doing that for two and a half years. So this is a completely natural development. What you see in Europe now is that there are changes that are also coming because the virus is trying to escape the immunity effect that we have acquired. It is completely natural for the virus to make such changes. Assistant director of health, Espen Rostrup Nakstad Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB Wash your hands – We occasionally hear that people get sick from corona, and that people get really sick with flu-like symptoms. That’s what Tove Røsstad, the municipal chief physician in Trondheim, says. She says that people are still being admitted to St. Olav’s hospital with corona, but that the number is stable. Nevertheless, they have been warned that there may be an increase in the number of infected people in the future. – It is expected that you will get a wave eventually, but you do not know how big the scale will be. She asks people in the risk group, both for flu and for corona, to get vaccinated. And as usual, it is important to think about who you meet and where you are if you fall ill. – Good hand hygiene always applies, and it’s a good idea to wash your hands when you get home and before eating. But there is no direct recommendation to avoid shaking hands. If you are sick, you can keep your distance from people and stay at home. Municipal chief physician in Trondheim, Tove Røsstad. Photo: Arne Kristian Gansmo / news Strong immunity Nakstad says it is also worth noting that in addition to the new omicron variant, we are in a season with several cases of influenza. – There could of course be a lot of sick leave if we get a wave of infection and flu at the same time in the winter. But so far this autumn, it looks like these waves we have seen in Europe, they have not been very big and it looks like they have subsided again in several places. – So we are probably in a situation where our general resistance and population immunity are actually starting to strengthen. Despite the fact that we get more virus variants. So we simply have to follow it and deal with it much like we do now.
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