In a short time, the country’s students will occupy the classrooms for a new school year. At the same time coming the news of new outbreaks and increasing infection trend on the assembly line.
Nevertheless, the recommendation from national authorities is to open schools at the green level. From 16 August, children and young people under the age of 18 will be exempt from the obligation to be quarantined.
– This increases the risk of infection in society, but it is a risk we are willing to take for children and young people to have as normal an everyday life as possible in the autumn, said Minister of Health Bent Høie (H) when he announced the postponement of step four in the reopening.
Worrying
Assistant health director Espen Rostrup Nakstad tells Dagbladet that it is the young people who have not been vaccinated who largely drive the pandemic in Norway. He believes it is worrying that the infection will increase among this age group when schools open after the summer holidays.
– Can we expect a child infection wave after school starts?
– Yes, it is likely that among younger adults and young people – and perhaps also among smaller children – we will see that the infection rates are higher than in other age groups, says Nakstad.
ASSISTANT HEALTH DIRECTOR: Espen Rostrup Nakstad, Assistant Director of Health, during a press conference on the corona situation. Photo: Berit Roald / NTB
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He further says that this is due to the fact that most people in older age groups have been vaccinated.
– But still it is worrying, because it can be a big school absence from it. It can be difficult for the municipalities to both test and detect outbreaks in schools, while at the same time vaccinating many. Young people who may be offered a vaccine have a lot to gain from getting a vaccine rather than getting sick. It will at least reduce school absenteeism, and some of them will also avoid more adverse effects of the disease, he says.
The government plans to offer 16- and 17-year-olds corona vaccine, after the population over 18 has been fully vaccinated. A final decision on this will be made in September, informs the government.
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Oslo is exposed
Vaccine expert Gunnveig Grødeland at the University of Oslo tells Dagbladet that everyone who is not vaccinated will eventually be infected.
– They will be infected at some point, but the disease will in very few cases break out. Basically, it is a mild cold in children, and many will not notice the infection at all, she says.
– Can we expect a child infection wave?
– It depends on how much degree of interaction there is between different schools. The virus is not transmitted in a vacuum, so unless adults have contracted the infection at school, the only way it will occur is if children infect each other in interaction with children at other schools, she says and adds:
– For example, in Oslo and other larger cities and towns, this could certainly be the case, but Oslo has also come a long way with vaccine coverage and offers of second doses.
VACCINE EXPERT: Gunnveig Grødeland researches immunology and vaccine development at the Department of Immunology at the University of Oslo. Photo: Øystein Horgmo / UiO
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The vaccine expert believes that the consequences of a possible wave of childhood infections will be small, as available data indicate that children become seriously ill to a very small extent.
– Every year we have a cold development with other coronaviruses in the population. When we are concerned about Sars-CoV-2, it is not because it is transmitted between people, but because it can cause serious illness. With vaccination, we have reduced the probability of serious illness in the part of the population that is most exposed to this, says Grødeland.
– Very skeptical
NIPH has stated that after the summer they will consider whether the age group 12 to 15 years should receive corona vaccine. They are betting that this assessment will be ready by the end of September, according to NRK.
Grødeland advocates to not vaccinate children, and says that she “is initially very skeptical” about this.
– The reason is that children very rarely get seriously ill with covid-19, so they would mostly be vaccinated to prevent the spread of infection instead of getting their own benefit from the vaccine, she says.
– What does it take for it to be justifiable to vaccinate children?
– If you get a new variant that existing vaccines have little effect on, and you see that children get sicker from this variant than we are used to, then it will be able to justify vaccination of children, says Grødeland.
She believes that children who are in risk groups themselves, or who have parents who are in risk groups, will be able to benefit from coronavina vaccine.
– It may therefore make sense to consider for individual cases when vaccination is necessary for children, she says.
Every fourth teacher is fully vaccinated
Schedules frequent testing
Nakstad believes that we have a lot to gain from having low levels of infection, also in the younger age groups, until we have put the last vaccine in Norway this autumn. On Tuesday, it became known that only one in four teachers has received dose two of the corona vaccine, one week before school starts.
– What kind of consequences can this have?
– Fortunately, the figures show that the vast majority of teachers will have received their first dose before school starts. This is important, because then you are well protected against serious illness. But this means that you are not necessarily protected from being able to get mild symptoms and become infected. This applies to everyone who has received one dose of vaccine in society, says Nakstad.
He further says that they, on the recommendation of FHI, have switched to testing frequently in schools, rather than putting close contacts in quarantine.
– We send out rapid tests to all municipalities that do not have it ready, so that we can quickly get started with testing at schools, where there may be an outbreak of infection. It will be very important now, because it is important to keep the infection pressure down in the youngest age groups, which largely drive the pandemic now, he says.
Can make exceptions
Minister of Education Guri Melby (V) has previously informed NTB that the national recommendation is to start schools and kindergartens at the green level, but that the exception is if the infection situation indicates that a higher level is needed.
The Minister of Education and Research was clear that only the direct infection situation can be the basis for changes in the level.
MINISTER OF KNOWLEDGE: Minister of Education and Integration Guri Melby (V). Photo: Christian Roth Christensen / Dagbladet
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– The Infection Control Act is very strict for what one should have as a justification for various measures. We are concerned that children and young people should have as low a level of preparedness as possible, Melby told the news agency.
Green level means that most things are as normal. No sick person should attend school, good hygiene should be maintained and preferably shaking hands and squeezing should be avoided, but everyday school life and classes are organized as normal.
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