MSAH and THL informs
Two-dose COVID-19 vaccination rate reaches 78 per cent for people aged 12 or over – epidemiological situation remains essentially unchanged

On 27 October, 85 per cent of the target population for COVID-19 vaccination in Finland, i.e. people who are 12 years of age or over, had received at least one vaccine dose and 78 per cent two vaccine doses. According to the current estimate, it is possible to achieve 80 per cent vaccination coverage at the beginning of November, between 1 and 7 November or between 8 and 14 November, if the increase in the vaccine uptake does not slow down.

Between 21 and 27 October, the uptake of the first vaccine dose grew by 0.5 percentage points and the uptake of the second dose by 1.5 percentage points. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare recommends that people aged 60 or over and those in medical risk groups be offered the opportunity to receive a third vaccine dose. On 27 October, a total of 88,774 people had received their third vaccine dose.

Between 18 and 24 October, there were a total of 98 new COVID-19 inpatients in specialised healthcare. Over the past five weeks, the weekly numbers of new COVID-19 inpatients in specialised healthcare have varied between 79 and 129. Last week, there were 22 new inpatients in intensive care, which is seven inpatients fewer than the week before.

At the end of last week, the total number of patients in specialised healthcare was 120, of whom 89 were in inpatient care and 31 in intensive care. At the end of the week which started on 11 October, there were a total of 148 patients receiving care. This means that the burden on specialised healthcare has decreased slightly. On 27 October 2021, the total number of COVID-19-related deaths reported to the communicable diseases register was 1,150. 

A continuous fall in the need for hospital care would require that the vaccine uptake increase and the number of new cases fall substantially. As the local or regional epidemiological situation deteriorates, the spread of infections and its harmful effects can still be effectively prevented by introducing timely measures under the hybrid strategy either in a specific municipality or in a larger area.

The risk of being hospitalised to receive specialised healthcare is significantly higher for unvaccinated people than for those who have been vaccinated twice. Over the last two-week period, unvaccinated people between the ages of 12 to 79 who have COVID-19 have received specialised healthcare 15 times more often than those in the same age group who have been vaccinated twice. The risk of being admitted to specialised healthcare has been highest among unvaccinated people aged 50−69. The risk is 52 times higher for them than for those in the same age group who have been vaccinated twice. 

The incidence of new COVID-19 cases over the last two-week period was 133 per 100,000 inhabitants. This is around 6 per cent less than in the preceding two-week period (29 September–10 October) when the incidence of cases was 141 per 100,000 inhabitants. The weekly number of new COVID-19 cases has remained at the same level for the past four weeks, standing at around 3,600–4,000 cases per week. 

More than 74,000 COVID-19 tests were taken between 18 and 24 October. The figure is slightly lower than during the past three weeks when about 79,000–81,000 tests were carried out per week. The proportion of positive cases of all samples taken last week was 4.9 per cent, showing a slight increase on the previous week’s 4.6 per cent. 

The epidemiological situation is monitored weekly. The monitoring report of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare is published on the Institute’s webpage ‘Monitoring reports on the hybrid strategy’ on Thursday afternoons.

Inquiries:

Mia Kontio, Chief Specialist, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, [email protected]
Liisa-Maria Voipio-Pulkki, Chief Specialist, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, [email protected]
Pasi Pohjola, Director, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, [email protected]
Mika Salminen, Director, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, [email protected]
Otto Helve, Chief Physician, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, [email protected]

• Monitoring reports on the hybrid strategy (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), in Finnish and Swedish 
• Progress with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), in Finnish and Swedish
• Situation update on coronavirus (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare)
• The COVID-19 epidemic: regional situation, recommendations and restrictions (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare) 
• Coronavirus in numbers (Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa) 
• Action plan for implementing the hybrid strategy to control the COVID-19 epidemic 2021–22 (Publications of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 2021:30), description sheet in English 
• Effects of the COVID-19 epidemic on wellbeing, services and the economy (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), in Finnish