Covid-19: Norway plans third vaccine dose for all adults, digital 'corona passes'

Norway will offer a third Covid-19 vaccine dose to everyone aged 18 or older and will give municipalities the option of using digital "corona passes" as a way to beat back an ongoing surge in Covid-19 infections, the government said on Friday.

Norway has so far only given a third dose to those aged 65 and older.

"Everyone aged 18 and older will be offered a third dose next year," Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told a news conference.

Norway in late September ended the last of its domestic coronavirus lockdown measures, which for 18 months had restricted social interaction and hobbled many businesses.

The country is not going back into lockdown however, Stoere said.

But while 87 per cent of adults in Norway have received at least two vaccine doses against Covid-19, and 70 per cent of the overall population has been inoculated, infections and hospitalisations are now rising rapidly.

Norway uses vaccines made by BioNTech, Pfizer and Moderna in its national rollout, which since September includes everyone aged 12 and over.

• Europe