Sweden: The head of the controversial anti-Covid strategy obtains a position at the WHO











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STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Anders Tegnell, the man behind Sweden’s controversial no-lockdown strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic, is stepping down as chief epidemiologist to join the World Health Organization ( WHO), the Swedish Health Agency announced on Wednesday.

The 65-year-old doctor will join a group of WHO experts in charge of coordinating the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 with health and vaccination organizations.

Anders Tegnell, who has become the face of the pandemic in Sweden over the course of almost daily interventions, is a much criticized figure in the country, to the point that he had to benefit from police protection after receiving death threats.

He also has his supporters: his face has appeared on T-shirts bearing the slogan “In Tegnell we trust” (“we believe in Tegnell”) and some have even gone so far as to have his face tattooed.

More than 17,000 people have died in connection with COVID-19 in Sweden, which is far more deaths per capita than in neighboring Nordic countries but fewer than in many other European countries which have opted for containment measures.

When the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 spread across Europe in 2020, Sweden stood out for opting for light and voluntary measures, unlike the majority of countries that opted for strict containment. Swedish schools remained open and most restaurants, bars and other businesses never closed. Masks were never recommended.

According to Anders Tegnell, the containment measures were not viable and the epidemiologist judged that voluntary measures could have similar results without weighing on the confidence of the population towards the authorities.

However, when the number of deaths quickly exceeded that of other Scandinavian countries, its critics denounced the absence of stricter measures.

A commission, appointed by the government under pressure from the opposition, concluded this month that the measures taken at the start of the pandemic had been insufficient. However, it judged that individual freedoms had been respected and that the voluntary strategy had been generally justified.

(Report Johan Ahlander, French version Lou Phily, edited by Blandine Hénault)










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