Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf receives first dose of Covid-19 vaccine

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The King of Sweden, 74, and the Queen, 77, become the last members of the European royal family to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, although the country has not kicked the others over 70 for one month.

  • The King of Sweden, 74, and Queen Silvia, 70, received doses at Stenhammar Castle
  • Swedish general public over 70 will not receive vaccine until next month
  • Sweden is one of six countries to complain about delay in Pfizer shipping

By Joe Davies For Mailonline

Posted: | Update:

Swedish King Carl XI and Queen Silvia received their first coronavirus vaccines today.

The Swedish King, 74, and the Queen, 77, received the vaccines at Stenhammar Castle this morning although the vaccine will not be distributed to those over 70 until next month for the country’s entire population .

They are both healthy after the dose, Swedish Royal Court Information Director Margareta Thorgren has confirmed.

It comes as Sweden has become one of six countries in the EU to complain of a delay in receiving Pfizer’s vaccine today.

The health ministers of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia all signed a letter complaining of a delay in shipments of the vital vaccine.

Swedish King Carl XI (pictured) and Queen Silvia received their first coronavirus shots today at Stenhammar Castle

Swedish King Carl XI (pictured) and Queen Silvia received their first coronavirus shots today at Stenhammar Castle

Today Ms Thorgen said the royal couple are happy the vaccinations have started in Sweden and hope they can lead by example.

She declined to elaborate on why the royal family received a dose before phase 2 of the vaccination process began in Sweden, when those over 70 are expected to start receiving the vaccine.

Ms Thorgen told Aftonbladet: ‘It is on the advice of the Royal Family Life Doctor. ”

In a statement, the king said: ‘The great vaccination against Covid-19 is now underway in our country.

“I hope that everyone who will have the opportunity to get vaccinated in the coming months will choose to do so, so that together and as quickly as possible we can get through this difficult time.”

The announcement comes days after Buckingham Palace revealed the Queen, 94, and The Duke of Edinburgh, 99, had received the Covid-19 vaccine at Windsor Castle

The announcement comes days after Buckingham Palace revealed the Queen, 94, and The Duke of Edinburgh, 99, had received the Covid-19 vaccine at Windsor Castle

King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway received their first dose of vaccine yesterday the British Queen, 94, and the Duke of Edinburgh , 99, received the Covid-19 vaccine at Windsor Castle on Saturday.

The vaccine – developed by Pfizer with its German partner BioNTech – began shipping to the EU at the end of December.

The American biotech company Moderna began delivering its injection this week.

Still, about a third of the 27 EU governments cited “ insufficient ” doses during a health ministers video conference on Wednesday, a person who attended the virtual meeting told Reuters.

In a letter sent on Friday, six EU governments called on the European Commission to put pressure on Pfizer-BioNTech “to ensure the stability and transparency of timely (vaccine) deliveries”.

“This situation is unacceptable,” said the letter, signed by the health ministers of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

“Not only does this have an impact on planned immunization schedules, it also lowers the credibility of the immunization process.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she had spoken to Pfizer and was reassured that planned deliveries would be made in the first quarter of 2021.

Pfizer said there would be a temporary impact on shipments from late January to early February due to changes in manufacturing processes to boost production.

“While this will have a temporary impact on shipments from late January to early February, it will result in a significant increase in the doses available to patients in late February and March,” Pfizer said in a statement.

EUROPE APPROVES MODERNA JAB … BUT IT IS OUTSIDE BRITTANY’S BOUNDARIES

The European medicines regulator today approved Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine and will stock up from next week thanks to an agreement reached last summer.

But Britain will miss early access to the vaccine as it officially left the EU last week and failed to place its own order early enough to secure an exclusive supply.

British regulators did not rush to approve the vaccine when phase three trials ended late last year, as it could not be delivered until spring.

They will now have to do their own assessment of the jab as the automatic postponement of EU licenses ended with Brexit.

Moderna’s jab, which looks just as good as Pfizer / BioNTech’s and works the same, is already being used on members of the public in the United States.

The United States obtained the first intelligence on the jab’s supplies in exchange for funding its research and development, and other countries were offered deliveries in early 2021.

Experts from the European Medicines Agency gave the vaccine their seal of approval today and the European Commission has finalized an agreement for 180 million doses.

Europe signed an agreement in August and deliveries of the first batches will begin next week, Moderna confirmed today. The company “continues to be in talks” with the UK.

British scientists said not ordering Moderna’s vaccine earlier was not a mistake, as it would have been a gamble to order another vaccine identical to that from Pfizer, both of which use the same technology that had never been tried before Covid-19.

But as Britain now scrambles to vaccinate millions of people every week and fears it will be hampered by supply shortages, one more blow could have been a blessing.

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