In fact, in early March this year, quite a few were surprised when the Swedish health authority Folkhälsomyndigheten publicly announced Tegnell’s change: the 65-year-old will resign from office and work at WHO to distribute CoV vaccines in the future. “I’ve been working with vaccines for 30 years and I’m passionate about international issues,” Tegnell said in a statement. “Now I will have the opportunity to contribute to this comprehensive work.”
However, according to a study by the Swedish ‘Svenska Dagbladet’, an announced job change that was reported around the world may have caused ‘some confusion’ at WHO. First, it’s an “inner question,” and second, the work does not exist yet, according to a report released this week. “We received an offer from Sweden. This is still under discussion, “says the quoted WHO spokeswoman.
No more state epidemiologist
According to media reports, a spokesman for the Swedish health authority admitted making a mistake on Thursday. The announcement was a mistake as the negotiations had not yet been completed. “We thought the talks were over, but it didn’t,” Christer Janson said in an interview with Expressen. “It was a much longer process than we thought. There has been a misunderstanding and we regret it. “
APA / AFP / Tt / Fredrik Sandberg Tegnell was the chief epidemiologist in Sweden for nine years
Janson told Bloomberg that the WHO has asked Sweden for technical support for a “newly formed group”. This group is to coordinate the activities of WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the GAVI vaccination alliance. This includes making coronavirus vaccines available to countries that cannot afford to buy these funds on their own.
In agreement with the Swedish government, the state health authority decided to appoint Tegnell for this task. Therefore, on March 14, he resigned from the position of state epidemiologist and head of the department. According to a spokesman, Tegnell is still working in the health service but is no longer a state epidemiologist. This work has already been undertaken by the infectionologist Anders Lindblom.
Excessive mortality is especially high in the beginning
The Doctor of Infectious Diseases was Sweden’s leading expert in epidemiology for nine years. In the coronavirus crisis, he has long been the face of “Sweden’s special way” to fight the pandemic. Compared to most other European countries, Sweden relied on much looser, voluntary measures and appealed to the common sense of its citizens. There was never a blockage.
Sweden, and Tegnell in particular, was applauded by some but criticized by others for this strategy. The CoV commission set up at the end of February concluded that Sweden had reacted to the crisis too late and with too few resources. At the start of the pandemic in February and March 2020, the country should have taken stronger and more restrictive measures, the commission wrote in its final report. In the absence of a plan to protect older people and other at-risk groups, more stringent measures would create time for analysis.
“Sweden has dealt with the pandemic slowly,” the mid-term report said. The country failed in the first place to protect the elderly in the first wave of the pandemic. At the same time, the committee also concluded that the Swedish way was generally correct, with advice and recommendations that people should voluntarily follow. “This meant that citizens could retain more of their personal freedom than in many other countries.”
Sharp criticism of the procedure
However, a recently published study takes a tougher stance on Swedish pandemic management. The strategy was “unique and characterized by a morally, ethically and scientifically questionable laissez-faire approach.” More emphasis was placed on protecting the “Swedish image” than on saving and protecting human lives. The Swedish authorities prevented the blockage because the advice of independent scientists was presented as “extreme,” the authors write.
They relied solely on the expertise of a small circle at the state health office. Swedish universities did not make any public appearances at all, and if researchers criticized the Swedish way of doing things, active action was taken against them, according to the study. At the same time, the public remained ignorant about the facts about Covid-19 – such as the fact that the coronavirus is airborne, that asymptomatic people can be contagious, and that masks protect both users and others.