Most of Ruhnu's residents get coronavirus first vaccine in one fell swoop
Forty-two residents of the remote Estonian island of Ruhnu have received coronavirus vaccines, ETV news show "Aktuaalne kaamera" (AK) reported Monday night.
Ruhnu rural municipality mayor Andre Nõu told AK that not everyone on the island – population 65 – wanted the inoculation, though most did. Ruhnu, located in the middle of the Gulf of Riga and actually closer to the Latvian mainland than the Estonian, has not posted any coronavirus cases so far.
Nõu said: "If something like this (i.e. an infection – ed.) really happened here and started to spread, then probably a little more than one of helicopter trip [carrying vaccines] would be made."
"There were 42 people on the [vaccine] list. There are 65 people living on Ruhnu as of this year. About 15 minors were not on the list, and about a dozen more people did not want the vaccine," he went on.
Front-line staff vaccination drive transformed into full coverage
Initially, the decision was made to vaccinate 10 front-line staff on the island, but this was followed by a decision to vaccinate all other adult residents who wanted inoculating, AK reported.
Vials of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine were helicoptered in from the North Estonian Medical Center (PERH) in Tallinn.
In accordance with authorities' directions and manufacturers' instructions, those vaccinated are likely to require a second vaccination in a few weeks.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte