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Sweden, which initially aimed to “protect the vulnerable” via herd immunity through mass infection of unvaccinated youth, had a much higher death rate than its Nordic neighbors, especially before vaccines became available. According to a report in Science:

The virus took a shocking toll on the most vulnerable. It had free rein in nursing homes, where nearly 1000 people died in a matter of weeks. Stockholm’s nursing homes ended up losing 7% of their 14,000 residents to the virus. The vast majority were not taken to hospitals.

A report by the government-appointed, independent Swedish Corona Commission later reported the unsurprising news that uncontrolled spread of the virus in the community was the “single most important factor behind the major outbreaks and the high number of deaths in residential care.”  According to one damning investigation, “The Swedish people were kept in ignorance of basic facts such as the airborne SARS-CoV-2 transmission, that asymptomatic individuals can be contagious and that face masks protect both the carrier and others. ” Horrifyingly, it also found that:

Many elderly people were administered morphine instead of oxygen despite available supplies, effectively ending their lives.

Children weren’t necessarily spared. Dr. Jonas Ludvigsson, a Swedish pediatrician and epidemiologist who was an original signer of the Great Barrington Declaration, claimed that there were “no major school outbreaks in Sweden,” even though such outbreaks had been reported in Swedish media. He also published a letter in The New England Journal of Medicine that claimed there had been no excess mortality in Swedish children in 2020 compared to 2019. However, in emails to Swedish chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell from July 2020, Dr. Ludvigsson wrote “unfortunately we see a clear indication of excess mortality among children ages 7-16 old, the ages where ‘kids went to school.’”

Looking back on Sweden’s response, King Carl XVI Gustaf said, “I think we have failed. We have a large number who have died and that is terrible.” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven agreed, saying “Of course the fact that so many have died can’t be considered as anything other than a failure.”

 

 

Despite this, Sweden has many admirers around the world. In their fevered imagination, Sweden was a pandemic paradise, which never imposed restrictions on its citizens or closed schools. This is all false. In reality, as with nearly every other country, Sweden took drastic measures to control the virus at times, though it was too late for many of its most vulnerable citizens.

David Steadson, a public health researcher who co-authored the investigation referenced above, noted that Sweden’s restrictions on elderly and vulnerable people led to what he called “the longest continuous lockdown in the world.” Mr. Steadson told me:

There were also many other restrictions put in place that people ignore, including alcohol sales restrictions, all large events and large localities shutdown, including sports events, zoos, theatres, theme parks. Sports activities all shut down or went outdoors. Even “recommendations” (ie technically binding but unenforced) on restricting travel outside your home region.

Schools were affected as well. Mr. Steadson also told me:

Contrary to popular myth, Sweden did close schools. In early March 2020, the Government amended the school regulations to allow all schools from preschool and up, to move to remote or hybrid learning in the event of outbreaks of staff issues. On March 27, 2020, on the recommendation of the Swedish Public Health Agency, all high schools (Grade 10 and up) and Universities and adult education moved to remote learning, with 3 months summer holidays beginning a few weeks later. 

Following the 2020 summer break, many schools, predominantly middle school and up (from grade 7) – elected to continue with hybrid and remote classes, however, no statistics on school closures were kept.

Indeed, while Sweden never officially closed schools for younger children, overwhelming COVID outbreaks caused many school closures at the local level, as was true in the US (KentuckyFloridaTexasGeorgiaNorth CarolinaMississippiAlabamaSouth CarolinaTennesseeMissouriWest Virginia). Mr. Steadson, who lives in Sweden himself, told me about his experience with his own children. He said:

I had kids in grades 4, 7, and 8 when the pandemic broke out. The latter two were remote for a year and then hybrid for another 6 months or so.

In a long Twitter thread, a user named Annika compiled dozens of articles showing the many schools closures in Sweden while noting, “These examples don’t even include anything from early 2022, when omicron shut down even more schools.”

Sweden’s response will be debated for decades. However, anyone who engages in the absurd fantasy they took no measures to control the virus or that they paid no price for their early inaction should be completely ignored. Here’s the reality.

 

 

 

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  • Dr. Jonathan Howard is a neurologist and psychiatrist who has been interested in vaccines since long before COVID-19. He is the author of "We Want Them Infected: How the failed quest for herd immunity led doctors to embrace the anti-vaccine movement and blinded Americans to the threat of COVID."

Posted by Jonathan Howard

Dr. Jonathan Howard is a neurologist and psychiatrist who has been interested in vaccines since long before COVID-19. He is the author of "We Want Them Infected: How the failed quest for herd immunity led doctors to embrace the anti-vaccine movement and blinded Americans to the threat of COVID."