Herd immunity .. Has Sweden’s strategy succeeded in confronting the Corona virus?
Anders Tegnell. AFP
Anders Tegnell - a prominent epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency and the innovator of the strategy to tackle the Coronavirus in Sweden - still believes in his country's model. Except that he already admits the existence of a shortcoming. "We know that our big failure was in the area of long-term care facilities," he said.
The Swedish scientist added to the German newspaper "Bild" that the regional authorities should have been better prepared, because in this way it was possible to record fewer deaths.
Except that the situation is getting better. The number of injuries has decreased very rapidly, with only about 100 new cases recorded daily since late June.
The small country with a population of 10 million has recorded about 5,800 deaths and more than 84,000 cases since the virus first appeared there in late January. And last April, the number of daily deaths reached more than 100.
Tegnell added that there are fewer people infected with the virus in intensive care units, and the daily death toll is still low. However, the picture appears different, given the per capita number of injuries, as the past two weeks witnessed the registration of new injuries at a rate twice what was recorded in Germany.
And although schools, restaurants, stores, and other public places, among other public places, remained open even at the height of the outbreak, the Public Health Agency has repeatedly urged citizens to maintain social distancing and avoid unnecessary travel.
Likewise, face masks were not considered mandatory, except that public gatherings have been restricted to 50 participants only, visits in care homes have been banned, and self-service in restaurants has been suspended. Moreover, Tegnell extended his recommendation to work from home until the fall.
Sweden’s goal of "herd immunity" has not yet been reached. The idea was that the spread of the virus will begin to slow when there are enough citizens who are immunized either through infection with the virus, or who have obtained vaccination.
On the one hand, infectious disease specialist Björn Olsen never believed in the Swedish strategy. The professor at Uppsala University is one of 22 experts who have strongly criticized Tegnell for months.
He says there are many who died too early because the virus was able to spread uncontrollably. Draconian measures and early testing could have helped prevent this.