Vaccine – Prayer for the inhabitants:

In recent weeks, Bergen municipality has encountered an unexpected challenge in vaccination: People do not pick up the phone when the employees from the corona phone call to offer them an hour.

The problem has become so extensive that the municipality has posted a call on its own website.

– It seems that many refuse to answer phones that come from unknown numbers. This costs us extra time and work, and leads to fewer people being offered vaccinations than usual, says the head of the corona telephone department, Wenche Thorsen Strømmen, in the report.

Many will not provide personal information

To Dagbladet, the head of department says that they understand that people are skeptical.

– It is basically a good thing that people have agreed that they should be careful. We go out with this to reassure people that we are the ones calling, and that we will also call during the Easter holidays, says Strømmen.

Another challenge for callers is that more people do not want to provide personal information.

– This is information we need to record necessary information, she says.

Those who are called are asked to provide a social security number, and are asked, among other things, whether they have taken other vaccines in the last seven days, whether they are in quarantine, whether they have been tested for corona, whether they have been abroad or have respiratory symptoms.

Opposite Bergensavisen, which first mentioned the problems, medical director Trond Egil Hansen also encourages people to answer the phone.

– It is important to pick up the phone when it rings, as it can be an important message regarding infection tracking or vaccination.

Currently no consequences for the progress

At present, people in the risk groups for serious courses of covid-19 are called with an offer of a vaccine in Bergen. The municipality has received lists from GPs of who it concerns.

– How extensive is the problem? Has it had consequences for progress?

– We get hold of most of them, but some are skeptical. I do not have an exact share. So far, it has not had any consequences for progress, but it is clear that it takes time when we have to call people many times. We do not want people to miss their class.

For people who are not in the risk groups, but who are eagerly waiting to know when they can get their vaccine dose, Strømmen assures that everyone will be notified when it approaches.

– The municipality will go out with information to each group when it is their turn.