Estonia: Vaccination against COVID-19 will be gradually available to anyone during May

NordenBladet — Today, Minister of Health and Labor Tanel Kiik presented to the Cabinet of Ministers an updated COVID-19 vaccination plan, which specifies the principles and objectives of vaccination organization from April 2021 to the end of June. During May, it is planned to gradually open the possibility of vaccination to all those who wish.

“Vaccination is the only effective way to prevent COVID-19 from becoming severe in order to alleviate the hospital burden and thus return to a normal way of life. In April and May, our goal is to offer the possibility of vaccination to all people at risk and to gradually open the possibility of vaccination to all who wish during May, “said Minister of Health and Labor Tanel Kiik. “In the updated vaccination plan, we have updated the information related to the various COVID-19 vaccines and their expected delivery schedules, as well as the principles of vaccination management and organization, vaccination coverage objectives and schedule. By the end of April, we want to allow at least one dose of vaccination for everyone over the age of 70, and by the end of June for all adults. ”

The plan includes an estimated forecast of vaccine volumes arriving in Estonia by months and a time forecast of achieving 70% coverage by age groups by vaccination with the first doses. The plan stipulates that vaccination will be gradually opened to the entire population during May: first, people aged 60-69, of whom more than 40% have already been vaccinated, and people aged 50-59; then all applicants between the ages of 16 and 49.

Estonia’s goals is to achieve 70% coverage with COVID-19 vccination among people over the age of 70 by the end of April 2021, to make vaccination gradually available to all those who wish from May 2021, to enable everyone at least one dose of vaccination for people at risk by the end of May 2021, to provide at least one dose of vaccination to all those who wish to do so by the end of June 2021, and to achieve 70% coverage in the adult population by autumn 2021.

“Known vaccine delivery schedules allow us to achieve our goals. People’s trust in vaccination and the desire to vaccinate themselves is high, but work must also be done with those who are still hesitant today,” added Minister Tanel Kiik. “Participating in the joint procurement of vaccines in the European Union and contributing to several different vaccine manufacturers has helped to mitigate the risks and enabled us to maintain the pace of vaccination. At the same time, we need to look further ahead, prepare for the next waves of the virus and develop the necessary solutions for COVID-19 vaccination in the years to come. ”

As of this morning, 289,508 people had been vaccinated with at least one dose in Estonia, of which 86,768 have been fully vaccinated. At the county and rural municipality level, it is possible to monitor the progress of vaccination by age groups in the coronavirus dataset of the Health Board.

So far, Estonia has joined the European Union’s joint procurement of COVID-19 vaccine with five pre-purchase agreements (Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV and CureVac). The government has approved in principle Estonia’s accession to the pre-purchase agreements of all eight vaccine manufacturers in the European Union’s joint procurement, with which Estonia will be able to purchase a total of 4,761,894 doses of vaccine.

The objectives of COVID-19 vaccination are to protect COVID-19 riskgroups, to prevent and reduce COVID-19 related illness and death, to reduce the burden on the health system and the economy, and to ensure the normal functioning of society.