Attempts to escape the deadly impact of the coronavirus pandemic continues. Countries are trying to find out new and more effective ways to fight against Covid-19 because everybody wants to release their citizens from the influence before it’s too late. The health sector of most of the countries today is struggling as the number of cases increases every day, not to say anything about damaged economies and possible crises. However, as scientists announced that they have already created several different vaccines, now the world is more hopeful that soon we will finally be able to overcome existing problems.
The scientists had been working in a non-stop regime in order to free the world from the virus and today there are already three vaccines, the Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca, two of which could be given to people in the coming weeks. However, the vaccines are still in the process of being tested and an FDA advisory committee has to decide whether to recommend using each of these vaccines or not. Only afterward will the vaccines be delivered in different countries and then the governments will start to make them accessible for their citizens. For now speeding the delivery of the vaccines is considered the only way to make the virus go away.
Norway arranges plans for COVID-19 vaccine
Although everything is not organized yet, as the situation worsens, some countries already accept the use of vaccines. Norway is the first country that officially declared that they plan to use all three vaccines to stop the spread of pandemics. Recently the health minister announced that Norway is ready to use the three vaccines from Moderna, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and BioNTech to inoculate the population against the virus.
The scientists constantly say that not everybody will be eligible to get vaccinated and it depends on your health, age, and job. As officials say, the vaccination will start in late spring or early summer which means that it’s too early to arrange exact plans, but it seems like Norway is in so bad condition for the given moment that they already decided to use all three of the vaccines to stop the virus from spreading.
Why gambling is the key reason?
In fact, Norway wants the pandemic to be over as soon as possible more than other countries. The main reason behind these attempts has nothing to do with the health of the Norwegian people. Seems like the government is more worried about the fact that their gambling industry is getting out of hand. Although the country is widely known among gamblers with its proper gambling atmosphere, if you check this website, you will find out that now, since people don’t even have access to the government-owned brick-and-mortar casinos, they’re starting to flock to less secure online options. There have been cases of using offshore online casinos and taking part in activities that are considered illegal in Norway. The government usually tries hard to ensure the safety of the Norwegian people which is why regulating the gambling industry is one of the main concerns for them at the moment. As they believe, the only way they can overcome this problem is the return of the land-based casinos. However, reopening of the gambling venues is only possible if there is no longer the risk of spreading the virus which is highly unlikely if the people won’t develop antibodies after getting vaccinated.
This is why gambling-related problems are considered as the key reasons why Norway rushes to get their citizens vaccinated as soon as possible as it’s the only chance to return to the brick and mortar casinos. But it needs to be noted that even if the physical casino business revives in Norway, during these months people have become so used to online gambling that it’s unlikely for the land-based casinos to have so many customers, as before.
Norway’s access to the vaccines
According to Reuters, Oslo will receive 2.5 million doses of vaccines in the first quarter of 2021. This amount is enough for about 1.25 million people which is not really a big deal because Norway’s population is 5.4 million, about five times more than the expected amount of vaccines. Therefore, for now, there’s nothing to be hopeful about because these doses would cover only 23% of the population who are in risk groups but it won’t be enough for the 340 000 health personnel who interact with patients.
Besides, European regulators haven’t agreed yet to deliver vaccines in Norway, and the country still has to wait for their approval. However, they hope that Sweden, which is a member of the EU unlike Norway, will buy more vaccines than it needs and sell them to Norway after New Year. That’s the only thing that makes the Health Minister, Bent Hoeie hopeful that by Easter the situation will improve and they will have completely different conditions.
The Covid-19 situation in Norway
The pandemic-related restrictions were introduced a month ago when the second wave of the virus started in Norway. Afterward, the number of infections has been rapidly reducing. As a result, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reports that Norway has the fourth-lowest rate of COVID-19 cases in Europe, behind Iceland, Ireland, and Finland. Initially, it was expected that the vaccination would start from January 2021, but now as it became clear that the country won’t get vaccines until spring. However, Norway already developed a national vaccination program and plans to offer vaccines free of charge. The first Norwegians that get vaccines will be old people from are homes. They will be followers of people aged 65 or more and younger people with pre-existing conditions.
But arranging plans are too early, as the country is still waiting for confirmation. Therefore, it’s better to start working out other plans in order to save the gambling industry and the economy because there are many months to come until the vaccination process will finally start in Norway.
