67% people aged 12+ fully vaccinated in Finland

A total of 83 per cent of the target population for COVID-19 vaccination, i.e. people who are 12 years of age or over, have received at least their first vaccine dose, and 67 per cent also their second vaccine dose in Finland.

The uptake of the second vaccine dose is more than 86 per cent in the age group of over 60-year-olds, said the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in a joint press release on Thursday.

Among people aged between 50 and 59, the uptake is already nearly 82 per cent and, among people aged between 40 and 49, over 73 per cent.

One vaccine dose alone reduces the incidence of COVID-19 in each age group by at least half. The risk of contracting the virus, including symptomatic COVID-19, is considerably greater for unvaccinated people than for those who have been vaccinated.

The incidence of new cases over the last two-week period (6–19 September) was 107 per 100,000 inhabitants. This is 27 per cent less than in the preceding two-week period when the incidence of cases was 146 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The number of new cases continues to fall. A total of 2,788 were reported between 13 and 19 September, while in the previous week the number of reported cases was 3,130.

The majority of those in need of hospital care are unvaccinated. On 19 September, there were 78 inpatients in specialised healthcare, and 21 of them were inpatients in intensive care.

The number of inpatients in intensive care has now clearly started to decline, but otherwise the burden on hospitals has remained relatively stable over the past few weeks.

During August and September, the burden has been about one third of what it was during the peak months of the epidemic in spring 2021. On 22 September 2021, the total number of COVID-19-related deaths reported to the communicable diseases register was 1,062.

Although the number of infections among vaccinated people and the burden on hospitals have both decreased, the number of new cases is still high among unvaccinated and only partially-vaccinated people.

Fewer restrictions and increasing contacts between people also increase contacts between those who are unvaccinated. It is important that people continue to get tested for COVID-19 in accordance with the testing and tracing strategy of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.