Will vaccines sound the death knell for Sweden’s Covid experiment?

Herd immunity will require fewer sacrifices if it can be achieved with an effective vaccination programme

Swedish state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell speaks during a news conference
(Image credit: Naina Helen Jama/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)

Back in March, as Sweden embarked on a uniquely open approach to the coronavirus pandemic - and its death toll began to rise - state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell (pictured) urged the rest of the world to reserve judgement.

“In the autumn there will be a second wave,” he said. “Sweden will have a high level of immunity and the number of cases will probably be quite low.”

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Holden Frith is The Week’s digital director. He also makes regular appearances on “The Week Unwrapped”, speaking about subjects as diverse as vaccine development and bionic bomb-sniffing locusts. He joined The Week in 2013, spending five years editing the magazine’s website. Before that, he was deputy digital editor at The Sunday Times. He has also been TheTimes.co.uk’s technology editor and the launch editor of Wired magazine’s UK website. Holden has worked in journalism for nearly two decades, having started his professional career while completing an English literature degree at Cambridge University. He followed that with a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University in Chicago. A keen photographer, he also writes travel features whenever he gets the chance.