Sweden Jumps the Gun on Covid Strategist’s New WHO Job
- Tegnell resigned as state epidemiologist to take the position
- Swedish media reported the news had surprised the WHO
Anders Tegnell
Photographer: Anders Wiklund/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Sweden’s announcement that Anders Tegnell, the mastermind behind the Scandinavian country’s controversial Covid-19 strategy, had been hired by the World Health Organization has turned out to be premature.
The March 9 report by Sweden’s Public Health Agency FHM said that Tegnell had resigned as state epidemiologist to become a senior expert in a group that will coordinate the work between the WHO, the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF and vaccine organization Gavi. Svenska Dagbladet first reported that the announcement was met with “surprise and confusion” within the WHO.