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Anders Tegnell

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Anders Tegnell
Anders Tegnell outside the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden during a Coronavirus pandemic press conference in April 2020
State Epidemiologist of the Public Health Agency of Sweden
Incumbent
Assumed office
2013
DeputyAnders Wallensten
Preceded byAnnika Linde
Personal details
Born
Nils Anders Tegnell

(1956-04-17) 17 April 1956 (age 68)
Uppsala, Sweden
Alma materLund University
Linköping University
ProfessionPhysician,
epidemiologist,
civil servant

Nils Anders Tegnell (born 17 April 1956)[1] is a Swedish civil servant and physician specialising in infectious disease. He is the current state epidemiologist of Sweden.[2]

In his positions, he has had key roles in the Swedish response to the 2009 swine flu pandemic and the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4] During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Tegnell became a divisive figure in Sweden and internationally for his opposition to lockdowns, travel restrictions and recommending face masks for general use, which were widely adopted in many countries to curb the spread of the virus, as well as for his leading role in Sweden's controversial approach.[5][6][7][8]

Biography

Tegnell was born in Uppsala and grew up in Linköping. He studied medicine at Lund University in 1985, subsequently interning at the county hospital in Östersund, and later specialised in infectious disease at Linköping University Hospital.[9] In that capacity, in 1990 he treated the first patient in Sweden with a viral hemorrhagic fever, believed to be a case to be either the Ebola or the Marburg virus disease.[10]

From 1990 to 1993 he worked for the WHO in Laos to create vaccination programs.[11] In an interview with Expressen, he describes his on-site work for the WHO with a Swedish expert team during the 1995 Ebola outbreak in Kikwit, Zaire as a formative experience.[12] From 2002 to 2003 he also worked as a national expert for the European Commission to prepare at the EU level for public health threats such as anthrax, smallpox and other infectious diseases.[9][2]

A photograph of Anders Tegnell
Anders Tegnell outside Karolinska Institute in 2020

Tegnell obtained a research-based senior medical doctorate from Linköping University in 2003 and a MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in 2004.[13][14]

Tegnell then worked at the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control (Smittskyddsinstitutet) 2004–2005 and the National Board of Health and Welfare from 2005.[13]

As head of the Infectious Disease Control department at the agency, he had a key role in the Swedish large-scale vaccination program in preparation for the H1N1 swine flu pandemic,[2] which was declared by the WHO in June 2009.[15]

From 2010 to 2012 he served as head of the Department for Knowledge-Based Policy.[13][16] He was department head at the Institute for Communicable Disease Control 2012–2013.

Since 2013 he is the state epidemiologist of Sweden,[13] a title granted by the Public Health Agency of Sweden.

2009 swine flu pandemic

Tegnell has been criticized for his role in the mass vaccination scheme of 5 million Swedes against swine flu, which caused about 500 children to suffer from narcolepsy.[17][18][19] Tegnell has been reported as saying of Pandemrix, the vaccine that had been known to cause neurological issues in the UK and was not approved by the US FDA, that it would have been highly unethical not to vaccinate people because hundreds of Swedes risked dying.[20][21][22] A research article he co-authored stated that "vaccination against pandemic H1N1 influenza is highly cost-effective."[23]

COVID-19 pandemic

Main articles: COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden and Swedish government response to the COVID-19 pandemic

On 2 April 2020, while the coronavirus pandemic was widespread in most Western countries, of which many had by then imposed quarantine measures, Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail reported that there were "no lockdowns, no school closures and no ban on going to the pub" in Sweden;[24] This was inaccurate, however, as secondary schools and universities were recommended to physically close and transfer to distance education on 17 March,[25] and on 24 March cafés, restaurants and bars were ordered to allow table service only.[26] Moreover, gatherings of more than 50 people had been banned in Sweden as of 27 March.[27][28]

Sweden's pandemic strategy has been described as trusting the public to act responsibly: instead of wide-ranging bans and restrictions, authorities have advised people to maintain good hand hygiene, work from home if possible and practice social distancing, while those over 70 have been urged to self-isolate as a precaution.[29]

Some Swedish scientists, medical practitioners and physicians have been highly critical of Tegnell and the public health authority. Lena Einhorn contacted Tegnell in January 2020 to express her concern over the contagiousness of the virus, and was later "exasperated" by the lack of measures in Sweden.[8] A group of 22 Swedish scientists published an op-ed in April that called for tougher restrictions.[30] At the time, these criticisms received substantial backlash in Swedish media.[8]

A photograph of Tegnell being interviewed outside the Karolinska Institute
Tegnell during the daily press conference during the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020.

Despite scepticism and criticism from a number of doctors and medical experts, as well as international news media, Sweden defended its strategy, with Prime Minister Stefan Löfven referring to "common sense" and Tegnell saying that the strategy is rooted in a "long tradition" of respecting "free will", as well as the high level of trust and respect Swedes have for public authorities.[24] According to a survey conducted by Sifo, the population's confidence in the Public Health Agency increased from 65 percent to 74 percent between 9–12 March and 21–25 March.[31] A March 2020 survey, carried out by the same company for TV4, showed more than half (53%) of the Swedish population had trust in Tegnell, a higher number than for any of the current leaders of the Swedish political parties, while 18% said they didn't trust the state epidemiologist.[32] In an April survey, the share who said they trusted Tegnell had increased to 69%, while the number who said they didn't trust their state epidemiologist had fallen to 11%.[33][34]

The strategy was commonly attributed to Tegnell,[28] who was quoted as saying:[24]

We have so far not had very much of a spread [of the virus] into elderly homes and almost no spread into the hospitals, which is very important... We know that [with] these kinds of voluntary measures that we put in place in Sweden, we can basically go on with them for months and years if necessary. [The economy] has the potential to start moving as usual very, very quickly once these things are over.

and:[24]

In Sweden we are following the tradition that we have in Sweden and working very much with voluntary measures, very much with informing the public about the right things to do. That has worked reasonably well so far.

On 2 April 2020, Dagens Eko reported that significant spread of the coronavirus had occurred in retirement homes in at least 90 municipalities.[35] Previously, the government and the public health authorities had strongly advised against external visits to retirement homes, with several municipalities outright banning them. A nationwide ban on external visits to retirement homes came into force on 1 April.[36]

On 21 April 2020, Tegnell was interviewed by Marta Paterlini of Nature.[37] During the interview he said that:

Closing borders, in my opinion, is ridiculous, because COVID-19 is in every European country now.

and that:

closing schools is meaningless at this stage. Moreover, it is instrumental for psychiatric and physical health that the younger generation stays active.

On 28 April 2020, Tegnell was interviewed by Kim Hjelmgaard of USA Today. During the interview he "denied that herd immunity formed the central thrust of Sweden's containment plan". Tegnell says rather that:[38]

We are trying to keep transmission rates at a level that the Stockholm health system can sustain... We are not calculating herd immunity in this. With various measures, we are just trying to keep the transmission rate as low as possible... Any country that believes it can keep it out (Ed. note: by closing borders, shuttering businesses, etc.) will most likely be proven wrong at some stage. We need to learn to live with this disease... At a glance it looks to me that Sweden's economy is doing a lot better than others'. Our strategy has been successful because health care is still working. That's the measure we look at... What the crisis has shown is that we need to do some serious thinking about nursing homes because they have been so open to transmission [39] (Ed. note: more than a third of Sweden's COVID-19 fatalities have been reported in nursing homes) of the disease and we had such a hard time controlling it in that setting.

Tegnell has also been skeptical of recommending face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, sending several emails to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control criticizing the publication of advice recommending masks for general use in April.[8] Sweden began recommending face masks on public transport in December as Stockholm's healthcare system became seriously overwhelmed.[5]

In April 2020, criticism from a group of 22 Swedish scientists and physicians over the government's response to the pandemic suggested that 105 Swedes were dying per day. Tegnell disputed the numbers. The 22 scientists' criticism was based on erroneous data.[40]

A surge in COVID-cases and deaths occurred during the winter of 2020 in Sweden. King Carl XVI Gustaf and Prime Minister Stefan Löfven both admitted they felt that Sweden's response was a failure due to the high number of deaths. Löfven said that many experts in Sweden had failed to predict or prepare for the severity of the winter increase.[41][42] Public confidence in Tegnell in Sweden fell from 72% to 59%.[7]

His position has given him unwelcome fame. People have had his face tattooed on their skin.[43] Swedish hip-hop artist Shazaam composed and released his track titled Anders Tegnell on April 07, 2020 portraying his stance on important issues for the Swedish society and youth.[44] He had been frequently invited for interviews by opponents of lockdowns in US and UK media.[45]

Personal life

Tegnell lives with his Dutch-born wife Margit, in Vreta Kloster (outside of Linköping), from where he commutes daily to his work in Solna, Stockholm. He has three daughters: Emily, Saskia and Annemiek. In his spare time, he enjoys gardening and travelling.[46][2]

Honours, decorations, awards and distinctions

Selected publications

  • Brouwers, L.; Cakici, B.; Camitz, M.; Tegnell, A.; Boman, M. (2009). "Economic consequences to society of pandemic H1N1 influenza 2009 – preliminary results for Sweden". Eurosurveillance. 14 (37). doi:10.2807/ese.14.37.19333-en. PMID 19761738.
  • Cauchemez, Simon; Ferguson, Neil M.; Wachtel, Claude; Tegnell, Anders; Saour, Guillaume; Duncan, Ben; Nicoll, Angus (2009). "Closure of schools during an influenza pandemic". The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 9 (8): 473–481. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(09)70176-8. PMC 7106429. PMID 19628172.
  • McVernon, Jodie; Mason, Kate; Petrony, Sylvia; Nathan, Paula; Lamontagne, Anthony D.; Bentley, Rebecca; Fielding, James; Studdert, David M.; Kavanagh, Anne (2011). "Recommendations for and compliance with social restrictions during implementation of school closures in the early phase of the influenza A (H1N1) 2009 outbreak in Melbourne, Australia". BMC Infectious Diseases. 11: 257. doi:10.1186/1471-2334-11-257. PMC 3190378. PMID 21958428.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)

References

  1. ^ Sveriges befolkning 1980, CD-ROM, version 1.00 (Sveriges Släktforskarförbund 2004).
  2. ^ a b c d Mahmoud, Alexander; Delin, Mikael (11 March 2020). "Statsepidemiolog Anders Tegnell: Sverige har väldigt svårt att acceptera risker". DN (in Swedish).
  3. ^ "Vem är Anders Tegnell och vad gör en statsepidemiolog?". MåBra (in Swedish). 20 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  4. ^ TT, Johan Nilsson / (27 March 2020). "Tegnell svarar på norsk kritik: 'Gör det lätt för sig'". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b Kennedy, Rachael (18 December 2020). "Sweden switches strategy and calls for face masks on public transport". euronews. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  6. ^ "The Swedish COVID-19 Response Is a Disaster. It Shouldn't Be A Model for the Rest of the World". Time. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  7. ^ a b Orange, Richard (20 December 2020). "As Covid death toll soars ever higher, Sweden wonders who to blame". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d VogelOct. 6, Gretchen; 2020; Pm, 4:35 (6 October 2020). "'It's been so, so surreal.' Critics of Sweden's lax pandemic policies face fierce backlash". Science | AAAS. Retrieved 23 December 2020. {{cite web}}: |last2= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ a b "Curriculum Vitae – Anders Tegnell" (PDF). European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Mötte första patienten med blödarfeber". Västerviks-Tidningen. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  11. ^ Delin, Mikael (11 March 2020). "Statsepidemiolog Anders Tegnell: Sverige har väldigt svårt att acceptera risker". Dagens Nyheter. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  12. ^ Börjesson, Robert (2 April 2020). "Okända tragedin som formade Anders Tegnell". Expressen. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  13. ^ a b c d e Anderson, Björn (2016). Kungl Krigsvetenskapsakademien. Svenska Krigsmanna Sällskapet (till 1805), Kungl Krigsvetenskapsakademien. 20 år med akademien och dess ledamöter 1996–2016. Stockholm: Kungliga Krigsvetenskapsakademien. p. 61. ISBN 978-91-980878-8-8..
  14. ^ Tegnell, Anders (2002). The epidemiology and consequences of wound infections caused by coagulase negative staphylococci after thoracic surgery. Linköping: Linköping University. ISBN 91-7373-186-2..
  15. ^ "WHO declares swine flu pandemic: Sweden". thelocal.se. Agence France Press. 11 June 2009.
  16. ^ Sveriges statskalender 2010. Stockholm: Fritzes. 2010. p. 254..
  17. ^ "Tegnell defends vaccination that gave 500 young Swedes narcolepsy". Archived from the original on 6 April 2020.
  18. ^ https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2019-03-24/vaccinet-som-forstorde-livet-for-hundratals
  19. ^ https://www.thelocal.se/20110209/31912
  20. ^ "Tegnell defends vaccination that gave 500 young Swedes narcolepsy". Archived from the original on 6 April 2020.
  21. ^ https://www.bmj.com/content/362/bmj.k3948.full
  22. ^ https://www.reuters.com/article/glaxo-narcolepsy-fda/narcolepsy-link-to-glaxo-vaccine-poses-challenge-for-fda-idUSL1N0BZE9U20130307
  23. ^ Brouwers, L.; Cakici, B.; Camitz, M.; Tegnell, A.; Boman, M. (2009). "Economic consequences to society of pandemic H1N1 influenza 2009 – preliminary results for Sweden". Eurosurveillance. 14 (37). doi:10.2807/ese.14.37.19333-en. PMID 19761738.
  24. ^ a b c d Waldie, Paul (2 April 2020). "Why is Sweden staying open amid the coronavirus pandemic?". The Globe and Mail Inc.
  25. ^ Dahlqvist, Maria (17 March 2020). "Gymnasieskolor och universitet rekommenderas stänga". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  26. ^ "Table service only: Sweden's new restrictions for bars and restaurants". The Local. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  27. ^ "Sweden bans public gatherings of more than 50 people: PM". Reuters. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  28. ^ a b Brolin, Mark (3 April 2020). "Sweden is risking a lot as its coronavirus experiment comes under strain". The Telegraph.
  29. ^ Modig, Karolina; Smith, Saphora (1 April 2020). "Sweden defies lockdown trend, bets on residents acting responsibly". NBC News. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  30. ^ "DN Debatt. "Folkhälsomyndigheten har misslyckats - nu måste politikerna gripa in"". DN.SE (in Swedish). 14 April 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  31. ^ Wennö, Jonathan. "Allmänhetens tillit, tankar och beteende under coronakrisen" (PDF) (in Swedish). Kantar Sifo. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  32. ^ "Mer än hälften av svenskarna har förtroende för Anders Tegnell – Nyheterna". www.tv4.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  33. ^ "DN/Ipsos: Stort förtroende för Anders Tegnell". DN (in Swedish). 2 May 2020.
  34. ^ Baker, Sinéad. "7 people in Sweden told us why they think their government made the right call in having no coronavirus lockdown". Business Insider.
  35. ^ "Virus på äldreboenden i stora delar av landet". 2 April 2020.
  36. ^ Malmén, Joel (31 March 2020). "Besöksförbud införs på Sveriges äldreboenden". SVT Nyheter. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  37. ^ Paterlini, Marta (2020). "'Closing borders is ridiculous': The epidemiologist behind Sweden's controversial coronavirus strategy". Nature. 580 (7805): 574. Bibcode:2020Natur.580..574P. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-01098-x. PMID 32317784.
  38. ^ Hjelmgaard, Kim (28 April 2020). "Swedish official Anders Tegnell says 'herd immunity' in Sweden might be a few weeks away". Gannett Satellite Information Network. USA Today.
  39. ^ Henley, Jon (3 June 2020). "We should have done more, admits architect of Sweden's Covid-19 strategy" – via www.theguardian.com.
  40. ^ "Sjukdomsfall per dag (number of cases per day)". Folkhälsomyndigheten - antal fall av Covid-19 i Sverige. Stockholm: Public Health Agency of Sweden. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  41. ^ "Coronavirus: Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf says coronavirus approach 'has failed'". BBC News. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  42. ^ correspondent, Jon Henley Europe (17 December 2020). "King of Sweden blasts country's 'failed' coronavirus response". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 December 2020. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  43. ^ "Anders Tegnell and the Swedish Covid experiment". Financial Times. 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  44. ^ "Rap artist Shazaam's tribute to Anders Tegnell". ABC News. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  45. ^ Orange, Richard (20 December 2020). "As Covid death toll soars ever higher, Sweden wonders who to blame". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  46. ^ Westerlund, Torbjörn (18 April 2016). "Mötte första patienten med blödarfeber – Västerviks-Tidningen". VT (in Swedish).
  47. ^ Tegnell, Anders (2007). "Pandemiernas påverkan på samhället" (PDF). Kungl. Krigsvetenskapsakademiens Handlingar och Tidskrift. 5/2007: 76–79.

Bibliography

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