The article proves its own headline untrue. And a weak attempt at historical revisionism

The article offers good evidence to support its headline. And a good example of proper data literacy

Really? It seems very coherent to me. Sweden did not benefit from a free rein policy. On the contrary, the country's death rate for 2020 was in the EU top 10. And the reason it escaped the worst of the second wave is it vaccinated rigourously before any of the other Nordics.