Coronavirus vaccine – NIPH

Vaccination near me

Each municipality is responsible for offering coronavirus vaccination to people who live there. Check the website of your municipality to see how vaccination is carried out locally and when you will be offered the vaccine.Find the link to your municipality here:

The offer is available to everyone in recommended groups living in Norway, including foreign citizens. It also applies if you began primary vaccination abroad, but need to take more doses while you are living in Norway. It is not available to Norwegians or others living abroad.

Coronavirus vaccination is free. All vaccination in Norway is voluntary.

The solutions used for appointments vary between municipalities. In some places, drop-in vaccination is available without the need for an appointment. Check your municipality's website for information about the local arrangements.

Do not turn up for vaccination if, on the day:

*See the recommendations that apply for how long you should stay home

Inform the vaccination centre as soon as possible. Your vaccination will be postponed.

Before vaccination you will be asked to answer some questions about your health:

The vaccine is given by an injection in the upper arm.

After you have had the vaccine, you will be asked to wait for 20 minutes in case you experience any reactions.Everyone who administers vaccines has had training and necessary medication will be available to treat possible allergic reactions.

It is not recommended to take another vaccine on the same day as the coronavirus vaccine. There should be at least 1 week between the coronavirus vaccine and other vaccines. If there is a strong need to take several vaccines at the same time, you should consult a doctor.

More information about the vaccines used in Norway, available in many languages:

We distinguish between the primary vaccination series and booster vaccination. For booster vaccines, see the separate section below.

For most groups who are offered the coronavirus vaccine, the primary vaccination series comprises of two doses. The second dose should be given after 3-12 weeks. It is important that you try to take the second dose at the scheduled time. If something unforeseen should arise, contact the vaccination site to arrange a new appointment. The interval between doses can be important both for the degree of protection and for the validity of the COVID-19 certificate.

Vaccine

Number of doses to complete primary vaccination*

Recommended minimum interval between dose 1 and 2

Comirnaty (BioNTech and Pfizer)

2

21 days

Spikevax (Moderna)

2

28 days

Nuvaxovid (Novavax)

2

21 dager

Combination of Comirnaty, Spikevax or Nuvaxovid

2

28 days

For all three vaccines offered in the coronavirus immunisation programme, two doses are required for the primary vaccination series. If it is difficult to give two doses with the same vaccine, or is requested for other reasons, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health recommends combining the vaccines. When combining two different coronavirus vaccines in the primary vaccination series (doses 1 and 2), a minimum interval of 4 weeks between doses is recommended. No upper limit has yet been established for the interval between coronavirus vaccines.

* People who have had COVID-19 only need one vaccine dose to complete their primary vaccination series.

People with severely weakened immune systems (immunosuppressed) often have a poorer effect of vaccines than others. This means that many of these do not get a good enough effect from the first two doses. This group is therefore offered dose 3 in order to complete primary vaccination. For these, an interval between the 2nd and 3rd dose is recommended to be a minimum of 4 weeks. More information about this group can be found here:

Protection after primary vaccination with a coronavirus vaccine may diminish over time. A booster dose gives longer-term protection as well as a broader protection that can make us better prepared against new virus variants. The interval between dose 2 and the booster dose must be at least 20 weeks.

The advice about booster doses applies regardless of whether you have been vaccinated with: (a) two vaccine doses or b) had COVID-19 and one vaccine dose. In Norway, we consider both COVID-19 disease and vaccination to be equivalent "immunological events", as long as at least 3 weeks have passed between each of them. This means that an infection is equivalent to one vaccine dose. The interval between dose 2 (or having COVID-19) and the booster dose must be at least 20 weeks.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health considers that confirmed COVID-19 disease among people who have had their primary vaccination series (under 65 years) more than 3 weeks after dose 2, can replace the medical need for a booster dose. However, people who want a booster dose despite having had COVID-19 after dose 2 can take it. This may be due to entry requirements to some countries, or for other reasons. For the age group 65 years and older, a booster dose is recommended if COVID-19 is detected before 3 months have passed since dose 2. People with severely impaired immune systems (immunosuppressed) follow a separate vaccination course.

Read more:

Two of the three approved coronavirus vaccines used in the coronavirus immunisation programme are mRNA vaccines; Comirnaty (from BioNTech/Pfizer) and Spikevax (from Moderna).

The vaccines contains the recipe (messenger RNA, or mRNA) for the characteristic spikes on the coronavirus encased in small fat bubbles. The body uses this recipe to make harmless copies of these spikes for the immune system to practise on. In this way, the immune system learns to recognise the coronavirus spikes and can defend the body if it becomes infected with the virus.

The messenger RNA is rapidly broken down by the body and has no effect on genetic material.

In addition, the vaccines contain substances to keep them stable during production, storage and transport, as well as to provide the right pH, which is important for reducing pain during injection. These substances are water, salts and sugar.

The coronavirus vaccines act to prevent disease. They cannot cure an ongoing illness.

More information about mRNA vaccines:

The coronavirus vaccine Nuvaxovid (from Novavax) is a protein-based vaccine based on a traditional vaccine technology. Similar technology is used in vaccine against hepatitis B and whooping cough. It contains a variant of the characteristic spikes (spike protein) on the coronavirus that the immune system can practise on. This is how the body learns to recognise and defend itself against real coronavirus if you later become infected.

The vaccine also contains a new ingredient (adjuvant) containing saponins from soap bark and fats (cholesterol and phospholipids). This helps to enhance the body's own immune response to get the best possible effect from the vaccine. Nuvaxovid also contains an emulsifier (Polysorbate 80) which ensures that fats and water in the adjuvant remain evenly mixed.

In addition, the vaccine contains water, various salts and sugar compounds that will keep it stable during production, storage and transport, as well as provide the right pH that is important for reducing pain during injection.

The coronavirus vaccine has a preventive effect. It cannot cure an ongoing illness.

Vaccine against coronavirus - Nuvaxovid (Novavax) Coronavirus vaccine from Novavax will be available in week 10 (News, NIPH)

The coronavirus immunisation programme in Norway uses the two mRNA vaccines from BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna (see above), and the protein-based vaccine Nuvaxovid from Novavax. For most people, two doses are needed to complete the primary vaccination series, and several groups are also recommended to have a booster dose to get the best possible protection. Some will be offered, or request, a different coronavirus vaccine as dose 2 or as a booster vaccine than the one they began with. In principle, you are recommended to accept the vaccine you are offered, but it is also possible to choose which type of vaccine you want to take.

The coronavirus vaccines can cause side effects in many of those vaccinated, but they are mostly mild / moderate and pass after a few days. For some, the symptoms may be more severe. The mRNA vaccines appear to cause more of the common side effects than other vaccines. Nuvaxovid generally has slightly milder side effects with a shorter duration than the mRNA vaccines.The side effects after all three coronavirus vaccines usually occur during the first 1-2 days after vaccination. Common side effects are pain and swelling at the injection site, fatigue, headache, muscle aches, chills, joint pain and fever. Allergic reactions occur in some people. There is good knowledge about common side effects after vaccination, but rare side effects cannot be ruled out.

Among the rarer side effects reported from mRNA vaccines are inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis) and inflammation of the pericardium (pericarditis). The condition most often occurs among adolescents and young adults. It also seems to occur more often with the use of Spikevax (Moderna) than with Comirnaty (BioNTech/Pfizer). When offering mRNA vaccines to people under 30 years, the NIPH recommends the use of Comirnaty for both men and women.

Among those who experience these rare symptoms, they usually appear within a week after the second dose, and are temporary so that most people recover within one month. The condition causes chest pain, wheezing, palpitations and fever. In case of such symptoms, consult a doctor for a medical examination. Norwegian cardiologists consider that COVID-19 disease can cause more serious heart effects in some people than after the vaccine, and that this rare side effect should not prevent adolescents from being offered the vaccine.

Cases of menstrual disorders have been reported as a possible side effect in young women following coronavirus vaccination. This is being closely monitored.

If you experience unexpected, severe or prolonged symptoms that you think are due to the vaccine, you should contact your doctor or other healthcare professional for assessment and advice. Healthcare professionals have a duty to report serious or unknown reactions that they suspect are due to a vaccine. You can also send a message via the form via helsenorge.no.

The vaccine can give side effects up to three days after vaccination, so how should you deal with potential symptoms after vaccination?

Symptom

Measure

Symptoms that are typical vaccination side effects:

Fever, headache, fatigue, muscle or joint pain

Stay at home until you are fever-free and have a better general condition

If symptoms persist for more than 48 hours, consider a coronavirus test

Symptoms that are not typical vaccination side effects:

Cough, sore throat, runny nose, wheezing, lost taste / smell

Stay home and arrange a coronavirus test

When vaccines are developed, the goal is always for vaccines to give the best possible effect with the fewest possible side effects. Even if the new vaccines are tested thoroughly, rare side effects cannot be ruled out. Some side effects are only discovered when vaccines are in wider use, and have been given to many more people and to more varied groups than in the studies.

After the vaccines are in use, the Norwegian Medicines Agency, together with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, will monitor closely whether any unexpected side effects arise. There is also extensive international collaboration with the other countries that use the same vaccines. In addition, the vaccine manufacturers are required to conduct new systematic safety studies.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) collaborates with the Regional Medicine Information and Pharmacovigilance Centres (RELIS) to process reports of suspected side effects from healthcare personnel. The notifications are entered in the ADR Registry at the Norwegian Medicines Agency.

The Norwegian Medicines Agency publishes regular reports with an overview of reports of suspected adverse reactions after vaccination in Norway.

Notifications from healthcare professionals are thoroughly assessed to find out if the incident may be due to the vaccine, or if it happened at the same time as vaccination. It is important to be aware that events that coincide in time are not necessarily due to vaccination. Therefore, a medical examination is recommended to check for other explanations for the events. In some cases, it can be difficult to conclude whether an event is due to a vaccine or coincidence based on one or a few single events.

All three vaccines used in the coronavirus immunisation programme protect against COVID-19 disease.

The vaccines have a very good effect against a COVID-19 disease course that is so serious that hospital treatment is needed. This means that in those cases where people have COVID-19 despite vaccination, the vaccine can contribute to a milder disease course. This also seems to apply to the omicron variant. However, vaccination does not provide as good protection against infection with the omicron variant. The protection is poorer and shorter in duration than against the delta variant.

We are closely monitoring the duration of protection in different groups. Adults over 45 years and those with underlying conditions are recommended to have a booster dose because protection diminishes over time, see above.

Although vaccinated people have a much lower risk than unvaccinated people of getting COVID-19, vaccinated people could also be infected and transmit infection further. Therefore, it is important that vaccinated people follow the current infection control advice, stay at home and test themselves if they develop symptoms that resemble COVID-19.

The risk that vaccinated people get COVID-19 diseases is small, but can happen. Therefore, it is important to continue to follow the current infection control advice and to be tested if symptoms arise, even if vaccinated.

Until now, the vaccines have had a good effect against the various mutated virus variants. It is currently uncertain how good the protection will be against the omicron variant.

Although recent data suggest a lower vaccine effect against mild disease for some of the virus variants, vaccination may still give good protection against a severe disease course.

If we get virus variants where the vaccines do not work, then the vaccines can be adapted to improve the degree of protection.

Children and adolescents rarely have a severe COVID-19 disease course, although some may be admitted to hospital. Vaccination can reduce this risk.

Of the mRNA vaccines, the vaccine from BioNTech / Pfizer (Comirnaty) is used for people under 30 years. Children 511 years will be offered child doses of the vaccine. Immunity following infection, with or without a single dose of vaccine, can also provide broad and lasting protection in children and adolescents.

The following recommendations (should) and offers (can) for coronavirus vaccination apply to children and adolescents:

How

Adolescents born 2003, 2004 and 2005

Children and adolescents 515 years with severe underlying disease

Children and adolescents born 2006-2009

Children born 2010-2016, and those born in 2017 who have reached 5 years.

Children under 5 years of age

Read more about the recommendation for 16-17-year-olds:

Read more about the recommendation for 5-15-year-olds:

Those who have reached the age of 16 are of legal age and can consent to vaccination themselves. For children who are offered the coronavirus vaccine, but have not yet reached 16 years of age), parents must consent to vaccination. In the case of joint parental responsibility, both must consent. Children and adolescents under 16 should be consulted, based on age and maturity and their opinion should be given weight. Vaccination is voluntary.

Children have the right to receive tailored information. Parents should talk to their children about the decision to vaccinate and help to convey important information about this. The texts below and the links to tailored information material are intended to assist in this.

The NIPH does not have a general recommendation for the coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5-15 years, but it is available. Those who want to take the vaccine can choose whether they want 1 or 2 doses. The NIPH considers that when children have COVID-19, it provides at least as good protection as vaccination. Children who have had an infection therefore do not need a vaccine to protect themselves against a new infection.

The NIPH's assessments for children aged 5-15 where they and their parents want a vaccine, but the child has had COVID-19:

Other countries may have stricter requirements in connection with entry restrictions. If you need a valid COVID-19 certificate for travel, you must check which requirements apply for children at your destination.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health considers that the societal benefit of vaccinating children should not be given as much weight as the individual benefit. Vaccination of children 5-11 years, and a second dose to 12-15-year-olds may have some effect on transmission. However, the vaccine's effect against transmission of the omicron variant appears to be lower and has a shorter duration than against previous virus variants. Therefore, the effect on transmission by vaccinating the entire child population will be limited, when the infection will transmit regardless among the vaccinated.

The risk of a severe COVID-19 disease course among healthy children is very low. There is no evidence that the omicron variant causes more severe disease among children than previous variants. The immune systems of children in this age group work faster and more effectively than in adults. They therefore become less ill, and recover faster than adults.Severe COVID-19 disease in children is particularly associated with a rare inflammatory condition called MIS-C. It is estimated that the condition occurs in about 1 in 3,000 infected children, and is more common in children of primary school age than in adolescents. The hallmarks of MIS-C are persistent high fever and inflammatory reaction in several organs that occur 2-6 weeks after infection, and the children need hospital treatment. There is effective treatment for the condition, but the most serious cases still need intensive care. Hospital stays for these children last 5 days (median) in Norway. Follow-up 4-9 months after MIS-C internationally indicates a good prognosis, and this is also the experience in Norway.

People who have had COVID-19 disease may, in some cases, have persistent symptoms for a long time afterwards. In adults, a clear correlation has been seen between the severity of acute COVID-19 disease and the severity of long term problems. It may seem that such late effects are less common in children than in adults, but knowledge about this is limited. The most commonly reported symptoms are fatigue, tiredness, difficulty concentrating, stuffy nose, sleep problems and pain. The number of reported symptoms appears to decrease over time.

Immunity following infection, with or without a dose of vaccine, can provide broad and lasting protection in children and adolescents. It may be an advantage for protection against new virus variants in the future as the risk of a severe disease course in this age group is low.

In Norway, children and adolescents are only offered the Comirnaty vaccine from BioNTech and Pfizer, even though Spikevax from Moderna has been approved from the age of 12 and up. This is to minimize the risk of rare side effects in the form of heart inflammation. It is also one of the most widely used coronavirus vaccines in children. Comirnaty is approved from 5 years and upwards and the age group 5-11 years will receive an adapted child dosage.

Children receive very good protection from the coronavirus vaccine. The protection against a severe disease course is good already three weeks after vaccination with one dose. This age group generally has a very good effect of vaccines, and it will probably be better than for older age groups. This also applies to the omicron variant. The vaccine's protection against becoming infected and against mild illness is lower than against serious illness.

The vast majority of side effects occur 1-2 days after vaccination, are mild / moderate and disappear after a few days. For some, the symptoms may be more severe. The coronavirus vaccines cause more of the common side effects than other vaccines. Younger people often have slightly more severe side effects than older people.

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Coronavirus vaccine - NIPH