Centre For Local Research into Public Space (CELOS)
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You are on the [Sweden Letter Dec 17] page of folder [Background Research]
For the cover page of this folder go to the Deborah Dec. 17, 2021
Regarding the UK and their introduction of vax passports, the Swedish media was more focussed on framing the story as more evidence of Boris Johnson’s political troubles, than any analysis of the merit of vax passports. What has become a big media story here are the 120 double-vaxxed Norwegians, who were also tested on site before entry, getting omicron at a big super-spreader event:
How is the mood here? It’s been a mix, like usual. The vax passports for public events of more than 100 people were introduced about a month ago, as were entreaties to work from home if possible, wear a mask on public transportation during rush hour, get tested on your return to Sweden after travel, and get your booster. Anecdotal evidence suggests there has been little appetite to work from home, few are getting tested after travel and perhaps 10% of commuters are wearing masks. There has been some hand-wringing about the low uptake of post-travel testing and mask-wearing from politicians. There are discussions of possible “further measures” next week, but no clarification on what parameters would trigger these. Against this is the hope that there will be fewer cases over Christmas - it’s forecasted that the ICU numbers will peak at the end of the year and then begin to decrease like last year.
Of note, Tegnell has not attended a press conference in over a month - he announced the vax passports, then disappeared. The vax passports have not been brought up by the Public Health Agency during the press conferences since, unless they are brought up by the attending journalists. When pressed, they backtrack and say that events of greater than 100 people have the option of not requiring vax passports, if they organise the event to reduce the possibility of transmission. They are also finally acknowledging the limited ability of the vaccine to protect against infection and transmission. There has been push back by journalists (finally) about the covid-hysteria when ICU numbers related to covid are relatively low compared to last year and the Public Health Agency admitted that the flu and injuries related to falls (it has been very icy here) have also helped to fill up the hospitals. One of the journalists said (joking?), “if that is the case, will we be seeing vax passports for flu next?”
Another journalist also asked if they considered people’s mental health when they used such aggressive rhetoric against the unvaccinated! The spokesperson for the Public Health Agency gave a dissembling reply.
So my summary would be: if there is hysteria, it is in the media and some pockets of the population, but restaurants and bars are packed, people are out having fun, stores are packed, people are socializing, and have been since late September when we were told to “live with the virus”. Some companies have cancelled Christmas parties, but that’s about all.
But I have been blind-sided before, so we will see if politicians keep the pressure on regarding vax passports by widening their scope to restaurants and gyms etc. in the upcoming weeks.