Free corona vaccine is guaranteed until the end of 2023 for all persons living or temporarily staying in Estonia.
TALLINN There is no congestion in the Tõnismäki unit of the East Tallinn Central Hospital. A recently retired Finn Antti Valtanen goes up the stairs to the completely empty second floor.
Less than a minute later, he is already sitting down to be vaccinated. The vaccine is paid for by Tervisekka, i.e. the Estonian public health insurance institution.
Antti Valtanen lives in Estonia and is entitled to public health services. But practically any Finnish tourist can get the corona vaccine.
For the last few weeks, a decree has been in force in Estonia according to which free corona vaccinations are guaranteed to all persons living or temporarily staying in Estonia.
In Finland, THL recommends an autumn-winter 2023 booster dose for everyone over 65 and over 18 who belong to medical risk groups. Those over 12 who suffer from weak immunity also receive the vaccine.
In Estonia, the official recommendation is for people over 60 and people in risk groups, but in practice everyone who wants to get the vaccine. tested the issue by asking about the vaccination time from two different health service providers for two vaccinees of different ages.
Both a 50-year-old basically healthy man and a 30-year-old basically healthy woman could have been vaccinated on the same day.
Antti Valtanen thinks that the reason is Estonians’ low interest in corona vaccines. He noticed it himself in the electronic appointment booking.
– On Wednesday, I booked an appointment for Friday and there were quite a lot of those times available, Valtanen says.
Ministry: Vaccinating tourists does not improve Estonia’s herd protection
Director of the Infectious Diseases Control Service at the Eastern Tallinn Central Hospital Alexei Nevolkov confirms Valtanen’s findings.
He describes Estonians’ interest in corona vaccines as modest. So there are enough vaccines for everyone.
– If a person turns to us and is interested in the corona vaccine, we will certainly vaccinate, Nevolkov states.
He estimates that Estonians are tired of worrying about corona and vaccines.
– Most of the hospitalized corona patients have received at most one booster dose, and it’s been more than a year since then, says Nevolkov.
The coronavirus is spreading According to the Estonian Health Agency currently at a rate of around 6,000 confirmed cases per week. That makes 854 cases per 100,000 population.
The number of corona patients delivered to the hospital increased in Estonia in week 49 compared to the previous week by 20 percent, i.e. to 344.
Estonia had to dispose of more than 700,000 vaccine doses
Estonia had to during the first half of this year to dispose of approximately 728,000 expired vaccine doses.
According to Politico Estonia has disposed of corona vaccines in relation to the number of inhabitants most in Europe.
Therefore, Tervisekska ordered this autumn’s corona vaccines cautiously, only 82,000 doses. In December, the vaccines had already run out for a while, but now a good 36,000 more doses have been received.
It is estimated that there are not very many vaccine tourists, but despite that, the situation will change.
At the beginning of 2024 vaccination of tourists ends and from then on, only persons living permanently in Estonia will receive the corona vaccine.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health justifies the change by saying that vaccinating people who only stay in Estonia for a short time is pointless from the point of view of Estonian society. The protective effect of the vaccine only develops in a couple of weeks.
– Therefore, the vaccine will probably not prevent the tourist from getting seriously ill during their stay in Estonia, and on the other hand, it will not improve Estonia’s herd protection, Minister of Health Riina Sikkuttin according to the Postimees newspaper, the signed decree states.