Norway to use three vaccines to stop COVID-19 from early 2021

OSLO: Norway plans to use the three vaccines developed by Moderna, AstraZeneca, Pfizer and BioNTech in its first push to inoculate its population against COVID-19, the country's health minister said on Friday.

In the first quarter of 2021, Oslo expects to receive a total of 2.5 million doses, covering 1.25 million people, pending approval of the vaccines from European regulators. Norway's population is 5.4 million.

Non-EU Norway will get access to some of the vaccines obtained by the European Union thanks to Sweden, an EU member that will buy more than it needs and sell them to Norway, right after New Year.

"By Easter, we could be in a completely different situation than today," Health Minister Bente Hoeie told a news conference.

The timeline in Norway is speedier than earlier announced. In October, Prime Minister Erna Solberg had said she expected vaccinations to start in the first half of next year.

Countries worldwide are trying to vaccinate as quickly as possible, as vaccines supplies become available, and decide which population groups should get it first.

Britain on Wednesday became the first nation in the Western world to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, the one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.