Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
Sweden to clear hurdles for young children to get Covid vaccine, unemployment to rise next year, and one fifth of Sweden's laying hens put down after salmonella outbreaks. Here's the latest news.
Sweden to let young children get vaccinated against Covid
Ever since the Public Health Agency just over a year ago stopped recommending the Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 12-17 it has been impossible for under-17s to get vaccinated against the virus (unless there’s been a specific medical reason for a doctor to approve it).
But according to new directives from the government, it is now legally possible for the regions to offer the Covid vaccine not just to teenagers, but to children as young as six months. It would be the first time Sweden allows parents to vaccinate children under the age of 12 against Covid, and would mean that parents who wants to vaccinate their children no longer have to travel to countries that do offer it.
“We have carefully gone through the laws and rules around the Covid-19 vaccines and found that there are no legal hurdles,” Health Minister Jakob Forssmed of the right-wing Christian Democrats, one of the parties in the government coalition, told public radio broadcaster Sveriges Radio Ekot.
Sweden’s 21 regions independently run their healthcare services, so it is up to the regions to decide how and when to implement the directives.
Swedish vocabulary: children – barn
Forecast: Swedish unemployment to rise to 8.2 percent next year
The Swedish labour market was long remarkably unaffected by the financial slump, but that appears to no longer be the case, with unemployment rising from 7.5 to 7.8 percent in the third quarter.
The government predicts that unemployment could rise to 8.2 percent next year, or in other words, almost 40,000 more people without a job. Foreign-born women are the group that’s hit the hardest.
Labour Market Minister Johan Pehrson had no new measures to present when he addressed the numbers at a press conference, insisting that the right-wing budget already contains measures.
“We are investing in work and education, not least adult education is set to grow as much as 25 percent next year in order to face this situation,” the TT news agency quoted him as saying.
Swedish vocabulary: unemployment – arbetslöshet
Sweden's biggest egg producer puts down all its laying hens
All laying hens at Sweden's largest egg producer, CA Cedergren in Fliseryd, have had to be put down after repeated salmonella outbreaks.
Before the outbreak, CA Cedergren housed 1,182,500 animals – or in other words 20 percent of all of Sweden's laying hens.
Sweden has had a national egg shortage for almost a year because of the outbreaks. Most stores and supermarkets have already adapted to that, and CA Cedergren hasn't been selling eggs to consumers since spring, so the latest news won't directly affect the situation.
Their eggs have, until now, instead been going to the food industry where they've been heated so that the salmonella can't spread. They've been used in among other things ready-made meals and egg powder – an industry which will now not get any eggs from CA Cedergren.
It is not known when production will be able to resume.
Swedish vocabulary: laying hens – värphöns
Malmö to roll out promising anti-gang method to teenagers
A US strategy sometimes credited with helping Malmö bring its shootings under control after years of gang violence is now being rolled out to troubled youths in the city.
The Sluta skjut approach ("ceasefire", or literally “stop shooting” – known as Group Violence Intervention in the US) has so far been used on a handful of Malmö teenagers aged 15-17, police said in a statement.
The police and social services identify youths who they know to be at risk of joining in or falling victim to gang crime, and then call the teenager and their legal guardian to a meeting.
“We point out that the police are keeping an eye on them, but above all we convey our concern about the child to the parents. We focus on them and are clear that the social service will step in if the youth continues on the same path,” said Sluta skjut coordinator Glen Sjögren.
Swedish vocabulary: a teenager – en tonåring
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Sweden to let young children get vaccinated against Covid
Ever since the Public Health Agency just over a year ago stopped recommending the Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 12-17 it has been impossible for under-17s to get vaccinated against the virus (unless there’s been a specific medical reason for a doctor to approve it).
But according to new directives from the government, it is now legally possible for the regions to offer the Covid vaccine not just to teenagers, but to children as young as six months. It would be the first time Sweden allows parents to vaccinate children under the age of 12 against Covid, and would mean that parents who wants to vaccinate their children no longer have to travel to countries that do offer it.
“We have carefully gone through the laws and rules around the Covid-19 vaccines and found that there are no legal hurdles,” Health Minister Jakob Forssmed of the right-wing Christian Democrats, one of the parties in the government coalition, told public radio broadcaster Sveriges Radio Ekot.
Sweden’s 21 regions independently run their healthcare services, so it is up to the regions to decide how and when to implement the directives.
Swedish vocabulary: children – barn
Forecast: Swedish unemployment to rise to 8.2 percent next year
The Swedish labour market was long remarkably unaffected by the financial slump, but that appears to no longer be the case, with unemployment rising from 7.5 to 7.8 percent in the third quarter.
The government predicts that unemployment could rise to 8.2 percent next year, or in other words, almost 40,000 more people without a job. Foreign-born women are the group that’s hit the hardest.
Labour Market Minister Johan Pehrson had no new measures to present when he addressed the numbers at a press conference, insisting that the right-wing budget already contains measures.
“We are investing in work and education, not least adult education is set to grow as much as 25 percent next year in order to face this situation,” the TT news agency quoted him as saying.
Swedish vocabulary: unemployment – arbetslöshet
Sweden's biggest egg producer puts down all its laying hens
All laying hens at Sweden's largest egg producer, CA Cedergren in Fliseryd, have had to be put down after repeated salmonella outbreaks.
Before the outbreak, CA Cedergren housed 1,182,500 animals – or in other words 20 percent of all of Sweden's laying hens.
Sweden has had a national egg shortage for almost a year because of the outbreaks. Most stores and supermarkets have already adapted to that, and CA Cedergren hasn't been selling eggs to consumers since spring, so the latest news won't directly affect the situation.
Their eggs have, until now, instead been going to the food industry where they've been heated so that the salmonella can't spread. They've been used in among other things ready-made meals and egg powder – an industry which will now not get any eggs from CA Cedergren.
It is not known when production will be able to resume.
Swedish vocabulary: laying hens – värphöns
Malmö to roll out promising anti-gang method to teenagers
A US strategy sometimes credited with helping Malmö bring its shootings under control after years of gang violence is now being rolled out to troubled youths in the city.
The Sluta skjut approach ("ceasefire", or literally “stop shooting” – known as Group Violence Intervention in the US) has so far been used on a handful of Malmö teenagers aged 15-17, police said in a statement.
The police and social services identify youths who they know to be at risk of joining in or falling victim to gang crime, and then call the teenager and their legal guardian to a meeting.
“We point out that the police are keeping an eye on them, but above all we convey our concern about the child to the parents. We focus on them and are clear that the social service will step in if the youth continues on the same path,” said Sluta skjut coordinator Glen Sjögren.
Swedish vocabulary: a teenager – en tonåring
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