Fourth corona vaccinations for people over 60 should start at the beginning of August - Minister Lindé's statement
According to THL, there are enough vaccine doses in Finland, but vaccinators will have to be arranged from other health services if the recommendation for a fourth vaccine dose is accelerated.
Minister of Family and Basic Services Aki Lindén (sd.) urges the Institute of Health and Welfare to find out whether mass vaccinations of people over 60 could be started at the beginning of August.
- However, the differences between municipalities should be taken into account, says Lindén.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) issued a recommendation on Monday that the fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine should be given quickly to everyone over 60 and those who belong to the risk groups of the corona disease.
THL, for its part, said last week that it plans to recommend fourth doses of the vaccine starting in mid-August for everyone over the age of 65, as well as for people over 60 and 15-59-year-old risk groups from September 1.
According to the report published by THL, people in the risk group over the age of 80 benefit the most from the fourth dose of the corona vaccine.
In Finland, decision-making on vaccinations usually goes like this: the national vaccination expert group (KRAR) gives its opinion, and then THL gives its recommendation. THL has said that it intends to recommend expanding the fourth dose of corona vaccinations from the end of summer.
According to the preliminary information published last week, THL will recommend the fourth coronavirus vaccine to be distributed to people over 60 years old and 12-59-year-olds belonging to the corona risk groups from the beginning of September.
