Priority setting of COVID-19 vaccines in Norway: Advice and process (English translation)

Abstract

In the autumn of 2020, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health invited us to participate in an external group that would be advising on COVID-19 vaccine priority-setting in Norway. The group’s mandate was to set goals for the Norwegian National Coronavirus Immunisation Programme, as well as to provide general recommendations regarding priority groups in the first phase of the vaccine deployment. The group recommended prioritising the risk group and healthcare personnel and also proposed geographical prioritisation depending on community case incidence. The group’s advisory report was part of a large-scale multidisciplinary project comprising epidemiology, medicine, infection control, computer modelling of COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and economic cost-benefit analyses. Priority setting implies that some citizens are given preference ahead of others who must wait. In Norway, as elsewhere, there is disagreement concerning the values, principles and goals determining vaccine prioritisation. In this article, we present an account of the group’s work process, advice, and rationales in more detail and identify values-based ‘trade-offs’ that pose particular challenges.