As inoculation with the AstraZeneca vaccine has been put on hold across the entire world amid concerns over side effects in the form of haemorrhaging and blot clots, Norwegian journalist Linn Wiik called for a resumption of vaccination, suggesting that the risks are negligible.
In a contentiously titled piece, “I would love to die from the AstraZeneca vaccine”, Wiik suggested that the world is at war with the coronavirus, with vaccines being the only weapon and basically “the only way of out the trenches”. She emphasised that despite the most intrusive measures since World War II by the Norwegian government, the battle rages on.
“It probably sounds very brutal. But some must be sacrificed in the war against the corona. That's the way it is in all wars. This time it may well be me,” Wiik wrote of her willingness to vaccinate herself despite possible health risks. “Even if it turns out that it is the AstraZeneca vaccine that has caused blood clots or cerebral haemorrhage, I have no doubt: If I get the offer, I will take it anyway.”
Wiik ventured that all medicines have side effects, which, measured against the benefit, are worth the risk. She recalled a recent incident in which a pill for her headache had stomach ulcer, depression, and, most ironically headache, among the listed side effects.
According to Wiik, based on the existing information, risks associated with the vaccine are extremely low, compared to the benefits. In Norway, where over 120,000 doses of AstraZeneca have been administered, only one cerebral haemorrhage and three cases of blood clotting have been detected. Across Europe, 5 million doses of AstraZeneca have yielded merely 30 cases of blood clots, Wiik emphasised.
“If you are afraid of that risk, you should consider stopping driving. Because three times as many died on Norwegian roads last year,” Wiik insisted, reminding that there is so far no proven link between blood clots and vaccines.
“I like to risk a blood clot to ward [the pandemic] off. Because I am much more afraid of the side effects of the pandemic, than of the side effects of the vaccine,” Wiik concluded, citing its aftershocks such as unemployment, loneliness, mental struggles, and domestic violence.
On social media, Wiik's take sparked reactions, with some suggesting it was tantamount to “living in a clown world”.
Others called her “absolutely nuts”.
Wiik is no stranger to controversy. In November 2020, TV2 revised her commentary originally was titled “We live in a dictatorship” and explored the government's severe restrictions and the effects of the lockdown on the Norwegian people.