TANKAR EFTER EN PANDEMI: OCH LÄRDOMARNA INFÖR NÄSTA – REFLECTIONS ON A PANDEMIC: LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE SWEDISH APPROACH

By Anders Tegnell

IN REFLECTIONS ON A PANDEMIC, the architect and face of Sweden’s light-touch Covid-19 strategy Anders Tegnell examines the choices that were made and the legacy of those decisions. 

A SOURCE OF fascination, wonder and even outrage, Tegnell faced intense personal scrutiny as the man who seemed to be deciding the fate of a nation. But whilst much of the world made reactionary decisions based on political unrest, for Anders Tegnell, a pandemic response plan was a lifelong journey. Reflections on a Pandemic depicts his time working as a newly qualified doctor administering vaccinations in Laos to facing Ebola in Zaire the 1990s, through to swine flu in 2009 and how these experiences paved the way for the response to Covid-19. 

REFLECTIONS ON A PANDEMIC lifts the lid on Tegnell’s meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and considers why the second wave affected each nation differently. Tegnell unpacks the devastating social ramifications of lockdowns throughout the world, examining the enduring consequences on the young girls faced with school closures in Uganda. Finally asking the question, what have we learned for next time?

REFLECTIONS ON A PANDEMIC is written in collaboration with Fanny Härgestam, journalist and author of international bestseller How I Learned to Understand the World, Hans Rosling’s memoir.

Published by Natur & Kultur, 2023

Sweden, Natur & Kultur

A better illustration of Swedish state individualism is hard to imagine. One fears what would happen in an even worse crisis situation – like a war. Then I would happily have Anders Tegnell as my general.
– Dagens Nyheter, Sweden

Despite its low-key, calm tone, the book remains really exciting and nerve-wracking throughout, but also confident despite warnings of the next pandemic. The book is more than worth reading. Possibly because we all relate to the pandemic, perhaps because Tegnell’s personality is well reflected with the help of Härgestam’s undoubtedly outstanding work.
– BTJ, Sweden

Tegnell is unexpectedly honest about the corona strategy.
– Svenska Dagbladet, Sweden

The book should be read by everyone in health care and elderly care, but also by responsible politicians and civil servants with no experience of health care. Hopefully, it can also lead to a more critical attitude towards vocal groups who, without scientific support, propagated draconian lockdowns and later against vaccinations. Above all, we should take Anders Tegnell’s plea to use the experience of COVID-19 to prepare for the next pandemic very seriously.
– Läkartidningen, Sweden

BOOKS

Non-fiction