Tilliden til autoriteter bør sættes over de matematiske beregninger, der indtil videre viser, at AstraZeneca er sikker. Men hold bagdøren lukket for Ruslands og Kinas covid-vacciner.
Denmark is doing the right thing by going against the WHO’s recommendations
Confidence in authorities should be put above the mathematical calculations that so far show that AstraZeneca is safe. But keep the back door closed to Russia’s and China’s covid vaccines.
Both the WHO and Europe’s Medicines regulator argue that AstraZeneca is safe. They have specifically appealed to the countries, including Denmark, which have temporarily suspended the vaccination of their citizens with AstraZeneca to continue using the vaccine.
Perhaps researchers, number crunchers and healthcare professionals are right when they claim that the risk of blood clots and deaths is so small that it outweighs the benefits of being vaccinated with AstraZeneca. But that’s not the point. Once fear and mistrust spread in a population, politicians face a problem that can have catastrophic consequences.
It starts to creak in the furrows. Not only has there, not only in Denmark, a metal fatigue, there is also a pent-up anger and frustration beneath the surface in the populations. It is becoming more difficult to get populations to follow the corona guidelines and restrictions that are constantly changing. We also see demonstrations and violence in Denmark.
Politicians know very well that the people are dead tired of splashing out, wrapping themselves in scarves and mittens and walking up and down streets and alleys with their friends and girlfriends because we are not allowed to gather inside. They know very well that we miss being able to do all the fun and social.
There are no winners in this pandemic, but if the indifference sets in so that we become relaxed or resigned in relation to following the authorities’ instructions, we can be sure that the corona will win.
But the most crucial, especially for societies where so much is controlled by the state, as is the case in Denmark and many of the European societies. The crucial thing is that the population’s trust in politicians and authorities does not disappear. If restrictions and plans are to work, trust must be at a level where people listen when authorities tighten or change restrictions.
In order for this trust contract between politicians and the population to be honored, politicians must show their populations that the life of the individual citizen has value and first priority. That is why one government after another in Europe is going out and telling their citizens that they are putting the use of AstraZeneca on hold.
The development of vaccines has gone strong, perhaps in some cases too fast. Calculations and experiments must be made that either disprove or confirm the populations that there is reason to be on alert.
Until then, it makes sense that Mette Frederiksen signals that the handling of corona is not only about the Health Service not collapsing, but that she actually cares about the life and health of her population.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of several vaccines that Europe has opted for. Denmark is desperately in need of vaccines, and the country will do so even more in the coming months, now that there is one vaccine less available for Danish arms.
Wonder if Russia and China are not ready behind the scenes to offer European leaders their SputnikV and CoronaVac ? It will be interesting to see how Denmark and other countries balance the need to focus on the health of the population with the help of vaccines with major political ambitions and interests.
(Google translate)
Danish-American Eyes on Society 