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Sammanfattning

Pandemic preparedness has been discussed since the 1990-ies. During the swine flu pandemic of 2009-2010, interventions were performed according to plan; the most important was mass vaccination using the Pandemrix© vaccine. In retrospect the pandemic was considered mild. However, the mass vaccination had unexpected adverse effects - an increased number of narcolepsy cases among children and young people. This paper discusses the emphasis that the preparedness plan placed on mass vaccination and how authorities and politicians acted in consensus around the message: "Protect yourself, protect others, stop the spread". The underlying argument for solidarity demands responsibility when unexpected adverse effects emerge. Awareness of the relational and reciprocal nature of solidarity is needed in future work, with a broadening of competencies in pandemic preparedness to include the humanities and social sciences.

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