The Minister of Health Svandís Svavarsdóttir has said that the government will have everything ready for the coronavirus vaccination at the beginning of next year, provided that the vaccine proves safe and an agreement is reached on the purchase of it, according to Vísir.
Svandís says that Iceland has signed an agreement with one vaccine manufacturer, AstraZeneca, which develops vaccines in collaboration with the University of Oxford. Iceland has not yet made an agreement with Pfizer, the company responsible for developing the potential vaccine which has made the news recently after proving to be 90% effective. However, talks appear to be underway.
Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason has also said that he hopes vaccinations will be able to take place in Iceland from the beginning of next year. According to Svandís, “our systems will be completely ready, we will have issued a regulation regarding priorities and vulnerable groups and the like. We are working on all this so that we will be ready.”
She added that “this was a very important turning point yesterday and I think we have all felt that there was light in the darkness. So I think I agree with all those who have spoken on the subject that we are starting a new chapter, as we see that there is a vaccine there in the not too distant future.”
Svadnís said that the vaccine was unlikely to be compulsory and no such rule had been mentioned in discussions so far: “We are such a community that we want to build on motivation much more than duty.”
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