COVID-19 vaccinations for Helsinki residents aged 45-64 this year with an illness or condition that expose to severe COVID-19 will begin. Helsinki residents belonging to risk group 2 and born between 1957-76 can book a vaccination appointment at bookcovidvaccine.fi(Link leads to external service) from 16.00 on Tuesday 6.4. Appointments can be booked through the appointment number 09 310 46300 at 8.00 on Wednesday 7.4.
Illnesses or conditions that expose to severe COVID-19 are the following:
- asthma requiring continuous medication,
- severe heart disease, including heart failure (but not just hypertension),
- neurological illness or condition that affects breathing,
- immunosuppressive medication for autoimmune disease,
- severe chronic liver disease,
- type 1 diabetes or adrenal insufficiency,
- moderate to severe sleep apnoea,
- psychotic disorder and
- morbid obesity (body mass index of 40 or above)
More information on illnesses exposing people to severe COVID-19 and on the groups currently being vaccinated can be found at coronavaccination-en.hel.fi.
Vaccine entitlement is checked at the vaccination points by using the Kanta service or the City of Helsinki's patient information system. If the person to be vaccinated is not a customer of the City of Helsinki social and health care services due to an illness or the information of the Kanta service cannot be accessed, the illness or condition exposing the person to severe COVID-19 shall be proved otherwise, e.g., with a copy of the patient record.
Vaccinations are given at the vaccination points in Jätkäsaari, Messukeskus, Malmi and Myllypuro.
Text message to members of risk groups
City of Helsinki's Social Services and Health Care will send a text message to persons aged 45-69 and belonging to risk group 2. The text message will be sent to all those who are customers of the social and health care services for health-related reasons. The text messages will be sent on Tuesday 6.4.
The text message indicates that the recipient may belong to the group currently scheduled for vaccination. Recipients are urged to check whether or not this is the case and, if necessary, read the appointment booking instructions at coronavaccination-en.hel.fi. The sender information of the text message will be HKI SOTE.
If you receive the text message but do not belong to a risk group, you do not need to take any action and can wait for your age group’s vaccination to begin later this year.
The text message is sent in Finnish or Swedish, based on the native language of each recipient. Those whose native language is not Finnish or Swedish will receive the message in Finnish, Swedish and English.
However, the message will not reach all those scheduled for vaccination due to an illness as some are customers of occupational or specialised health care services. Furthermore, a telephone number is not registered for all persons who are customers of social and health care services for health-related reasons. For this reason, information on coronavirus vaccinations is also published in newspapers.
A health benefit assessment tool is used to target the text message. The Analysis leverages data available in the patient information system, as well as reasoning based on scientific evidence.
More age groups will be covered as more vaccine doses become available
Vaccines will be administered without delay as they become available.
The COVID-19 vaccinations of Helsinki residents aged 70 and above, as well as their caregivers, are still continuing. In Helsinki, 88% of people aged 80 and above have received their first vaccination. Of 75–79-year-olds and 70–74-year-olds, 85% and 62%, respectively, have been vaccinated.
The vaccinations of persons aged above 16 who are highly susceptible to severe COVID-19 due to an illness (risk group 1) and social and healthcare personnel are also ongoing. Vaccination appointments for 65-69 year olds began yesterday.
At the moment, the City of Helsinki uses two different vaccines. At present, people aged 65 and over are given AstraZeneca as the primary vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine can be used for the vaccination of those aged 16 and above. Two shots of the vaccines are administered. The vaccine jabs will be administered at an interval of 12 weeks, in accordance with the National Institute for Health and Welfare’s recommendation. The appointment for the second vaccination is set in conjunction with the first vaccination. You may not choose the vaccine given to you.
Persons who have had COVID-19 are recommended to get vaccinated six months after the beginning of the symptoms or the diagnosis.