Iceland’s Health Ministry lifted all pandemic restrictions and said that everyone should get infected with the virus.
Minister of Health Willum Thor Thorsson made the announcement on Wednesday that all anti-coronavirus transmission rules, including mask mandates and border restrictions, would be lifted as of midnight on Friday, according to the Reykjavik Grapevine.
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“Widespread societal resistance to coronavirus is the main route out of the epidemic,” the ministry said in a statement to Reuters. “To achieve this, as many people as possible need to be infected with the virus as the vaccines are not enough, even though they provide good protection against serious illness.”
A statement from the Health Ministry said that the decision was made based on the chief epidemiologist’s recommendation to the health minister. People who experience symptoms of infection are still directed to isolate and wear face masks in public and maintain social distancing.
“We can truly rejoice at this turning-point, but nonetheless I encourage people to be careful, practice personal infection prevention measures and not to interact with others if they notice symptoms,” the health minister said.
The purpose of infection is to attain natural immunity, which epidemiologists have supported as evidence regarding the immune-boosting power of recovery from prior COVID-19 infection mounts. Combining the immune power conferred by vaccines with prior infection affords a person with hybrid immunity, which has been shown to boost protection against the virus further.
Cases in Iceland are climbing sharply despite the lift of restrictions. Roughly 2,481 cases on average were announced daily in the week ending Feb. 21. That’s up from about 120 cases per day the week leading up Dec. 10. The omicron wave slammed the country in December and January, causing case tallies to hit extreme highs, according to Our World in Data, a tracking site run by the University of Oxford. Still, deaths due to the disease have remained exceptionally low compared to many European and North American countries. To date, only 60 people in Iceland have died due to COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The country will rely on keeping vaccination rates up in order to prevent a spike in deaths tied to the omicron variant.
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Iceland has administered more doses per 100 people than most European countries that have ample supplies and all-hands-on-deck approaches to getting shots in arms. While Iceland has given over 220 doses per 100 people, the United States has administered 164.3 per 100 people. More Icelandic people have been fully vaccinated than Americans — about 79% versus 65%.
