Swedish response to Russia’s recognition of Ukrainian territories

“Strongly condemn Russia’s recognition of the non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine as independent entities. A blatant violation of international law and of the Minsk agreements,” tweeted Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde, joining several leaders in condemnation as Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday recognised the territories and ordered troops into eastern Ukraine.

Amnesty International has previously warned of a humanitarian disaster and that large numbers of Ukrainians may seek refuge elsewhere. Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said last week that the main responsibility for helping refugees rested on other countries, not Sweden, which received 163,000 asylum applications in 2015.

Swedish vocabulary: a violation – en kränkning/ett brott

Sweden recommends new Covid vaccine

The Swedish Public Health Agency now recommends giving the Covid vaccine Nuvaxovid, by Novavax, to people aged 18 and older.

Nuvaxovid is a protein-based vaccine, which is different from the mRNA vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer, and the viral-vectored vaccines by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson (Jansen). The method used has been tried and tested for years – vaccines against both hepatitis B and human papillomavirus use similar techniques.

People who had an mRNA vaccine as their first two doses will primarily be issued an mRNA vaccine as their booster dose too, but the Public Health Agency states that they could also receive the Nuvaxovid vaccine as their third dose, if they prefer.

More than one million adults in Sweden have still not been vaccinated.

Swedish vocabulary: a protein-based vaccine – ett proteinbaserat vaccin

Warning of icy roads after blizzard batters Sweden

An orange weather alert for snow and strong winds was lifted in central Sweden on Tuesday morning, after the blizzard wreaked travel chaos on the region on Monday.

But the Swedish Transport Administration warned that roads may be slippery today, after temperatures dropped overnight with a lot of slushy snow freezing on the roads.

This is especially in the region around Stockholm, Uppsala, Gävle and Örebro, where traffic accidents as a result of the weather may also lead to long queues and delays.

Swedish vocabulary: weather – väder

What’s next for the Covid pandemic in Sweden?

The Swedish Public Health Agency believes that the spread of Covid-19 has peaked and will continue to decrease this spring, but a second scenario warns healthcare services to be prepared in case a new virus variant appears.

The new scenarios presented by the Public Health Agency are not a prognosis, but are meant as a tool for healthcare services to plan for the coming months.

Scenario 0, which the agency believes is the most likely, is that the spread of infection will continue to decrease to a low level, where it will remain until the summer.

The agency’s second scenario, scenario 1, plans for a hypothetical and infectious new variant of the virus spreading from around March 20th. In this scenario, the spread of infection would instead increase during spring 2022, reaching a peak in mid-May.

Read more HERE.

Swedish vocabulary: to decrease/increase – att sjunka/öka