Sweden to ease Covid-19 rules for vaccinated care home residents

When it comes time to ease restrictions in general, Tegnell said Sweden did not need to follow the kind of rigid road-map announced this week by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as the lockdown had not been so hard.

Sweden will ease restrictions on elderly residents of care homes who have been vaccinated against Covid-19, the country's top epidemiologist said on Wednesday, at the same time as rules for the rest of the country are tightened.

Asa Wernsten works at the sampling station for the coronavirus (Covid-19) test at Stockholm's Arlanda Airport, for travellers who arrive with international flights on February 22, 2021. - Sweden in January adopted a pandemic law giving the government new powers to curb the spread of the virus. The country has never imposed the type of lockdown seen elsewhere in Europe, controversially relying on mostly non-coercive measures. It has however gradually tightened measures since November. (Photo by Claudio BRESCIANI / TT News Agency / AFP) / Sweden OUT (AFP)

Sweden has seen a rise in cases in the last couple of weeks, raising fears of a third wave of infections and leading the Public Health Agency to warn it would introduce tougher controls to halt the spread of the pandemic.

Tighter restrictions are expected to be announced on Wednesday.

At the same time, more than 80% of residents of care homes for the elderly have received their first vaccination against COVID-19 and 64% have completed a course of two shots, according to daily Dagens Nyheter.

"We have discussed how those who have been fully vaccinated can live, and we think it can be a little different from the very restrictive way they have been doing up to now," Chief Epidemiologist Anders Tegnell told the newspaper.

When it comes time to ease restrictions in general, Tegnell said Sweden did not need to follow the kind of rigid road-map announced this week by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as the lockdown had not been so hard.

"We do not need to take the kind of strict steps that Britain is doing," he said. "When we see that the spread of the infection is a little more stable, we can slowly start to ease a number of restrictions."