When Norway shut down under coronavirus restrictions, journalist Lise Sørensen did what most people do – she followed the authorities’ advice and took the recommended injections. Already after the second dose, her health started to falter and the road to hell was clear. When she asked questions about the vaccine, she was met with scornful looks.

During COVID, people were strongly encouraged to inject the vaccine recommended by the authorities. The encouragement was more of an indirect coercion where threats of exclusion in society were constantly lurking. In Norway, podcast host Ole Asbjørn Ness felt that anyone who didn’t take the vaccine should be taxed NOK 50,000 (€4,400).

“I would rather be 50,000 kroner poorer than have two years of my life ruined by the covid vaccine”, writes Lise Sørensen in an opinion piece in the newspaper Document.

Sørensen was 24 years old when the first vaccine arrived and she took it like most other Norwegians. The first dose with Pfizer went off without a hitch, but when she took the second dose with Moderna, things went downhill fast.

“It started immediately. I fainted, got nauseous and had to lie in the waiting room for a long time before I could go home. Hours later, it really started. My fever rose above 40 degrees, my body burned internally and I screamed in pain: ‘This is what it feels like to die'”.

The medical staff told her to just wait and see. The fever broke, but came back and after a week she saw a doctor. The 24-year-old was diagnosed with the Epstein-Barr virus, known as glandular fever, which she had contracted as a child. The theory is that this disease only affects people once in their lives.

“But now it was back – because the vaccine had upset the body’s natural balance. I was not alone in paying the price – I also infected my then partner”.

Two years disappeared

For the next two years, Sørensen was ill, which meant her studies were delayed and her keen interest in running took a hit. When she asked questions about the vaccine, she was met with scornful looks.

“The vaccine was ‘perfectly safe’ and side effects were considered rare isolated incidents. Every time I said I was sick, I got the same look: ‘Oh yes, you’re one of them, right’. There was no room for those who had experienced something different”.

Sørensen points out that the questions she asked back then should have been part of a natural and open dialog, but instead they were labeled as dangerous. As then, and even now, a fixed narrative is followed in society. History has shown us how dangerous it is when critical questions are suppressed, she says.

“This is no longer just about the pandemic or vaccines. It’s about a pattern where those in power control the narrative and marginalize dissent to secure their position. If we don’t ask questions now, it may soon be too late”, she writes and continues:

“Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of an open society. Without it, we lose the ability to challenge power, and without it, what are we left with? Then it is only a matter of time before we live in an authoritarian society”.