Lutsar couldn't say how much worse the situation could become. Because the situation is critical, number of contacts should be reduced immediately, the professor told "Aktuaalne kaamera" on Saturday.

"We should cut contacts between people starting tonight. Both as concerns younger people and the elderly," she said.

Lutsar said that success of immunization depends on how much vaccine reaches Estonia and that the country has done the best it could under the circumstances.

"It is a major logistical challenge to help as many people as possible using such small quantities of vaccines. I think we have done well considering the level of uncertainty among officials and doctors in charge of vaccination efforts," she said.

"The fact almost 80,000 people have received the fist dose of vaccine and that the effect is noticeable after just one shot is very good," the professor remarked.

"My message to people is that this is not the time to consider which vaccine I want or do not want. All are very good at avoiding severe cases of the disease," Lutsar said. "I believe that we can offer vaccines to everyone in Estonia by spring and I cannot wait for that time to arrive," she said.

Lutsar urged people to only run necessary errands. "Let us only visit places we absolutely need to go. It is necessary to go grocery shopping, the pharmacy or to see one's doctor when it cannot be avoided. But the better we are at reducing contacts between people, the higher the likelihood of the virus being kept from spreading," Lutsar said.

1,570 cases of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 were diagnosed in Estonia on Saturday. This is a new record number and the fourth day this week with more than 1,000 new cases.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!