The infection situation in Sweden has looked good for a few weeks, even though the reduction has now stopped.

That we have also spread the new virus variants that have been discovered in the UK and perhaps also from South Africa is worrying.

The Swedish Public Health Agency warns of a tough time ahead.

But it is still uncertain how much more contagious the new variants actually are, according to virus researcher Ali Mirazimi.

In countries that have a large spread of the new varieties, such as the United Kingdom, Denmark and South Africa, the spread of infection has decreased in recent weeks, which may indicate that the new varieties do not have as great an effect as feared.

Javascript is disabled

Javascript must be turned on to play video

Read more about browser support

The browser is not supported

SVT does not support playback in your browser.

We therefore recommend that you switch to another browser.

Read more about browser support

The expert calls for calm about Astra Zeneca's vaccine following South Africa's announcement.

Photo: Astra Zeneca

There can be many explanations for the decrease

But according to Ali Mirazimi, there may be other explanations for the reduction, which have nothing to do with the new variants.

Many in the population have had the infection and are immune, vaccination is underway and the restrictions imposed against the infection are being followed.

In Sweden, we have to wait for the development before we know how much the new variants will affect us.

At the same time, vaccination has begun - and there are many flashes of light.

The mother's and Pfizer / Biontech's vaccine provides very high protection against getting sick with covid-19, but it has been unclear whether you can still get the virus, and spread the infection after vaccination.

Israel has now vaccinated over 60 percent of its population, mainly with Pfizer / Biontech's vaccine, and there is now a clear reduction in deaths, hospitalizations and new cases, which indicates that Pfizer's vaccine also has a large effect on the spread of infection.

South Africa has suspended the use of Astra Zeneca's vaccine

The companies behind the three vaccines that are approved for use in Sweden, Pfizer / Biontech, Moderna and Astra Zeneca, all say that their syringes work against the British variant of the virus.

For the South African variant, the situation is more uncertain.

Modern says their vaccine should work, based on laboratory data, but data from two other vaccine manufacturers;

Novavax and Janssen, show that their vaccine is effective, but less effective compared to other virus variants.

And South Africa has paused the use of Astra Zeneca's vaccine, following uncertainty about the level of protection their syringes provide against the new variant.

But according to virus researcher Ali Mirazimi, all vaccines, albeit to varying degrees of efficacy, still seem to work against what is most important: protecting people from serious illness, which can lead to hospitalization and death.

The protection applies to all variants of the coronavirus - even the new ones, but as I said with different efficiencies.

He emphasizes that significantly more data is needed to draw firm conclusions about the South African variant, as well as another new variant recently discovered in Brazil.

"Risking third wave"

The near future may be dramatic.

If the spread of infection picks up speed again, we may well get a third wave of infection.

Therefore, it is important to stick to and continue to follow the restrictions - and to vaccinate as many as possible in the meantime. 

In the coming weeks, vaccine deliveries are expected to increase significantly in Sweden, although delays may result.


And a new factory in Germany should be able to increase Pfizer / BioNtech's production significantly.



It's not a day too early.