Vaccination coverage lowest in Ida-Viru County, highest on islands
Coronavirus vaccination coverage is lowest in Ida-Viru and Harju counties and highest on the islands of Hiiu and Saaremaa. ERR News has taken a closer look at the rates in Harju, Tartu and Ida-Viru counties.
Nationally
In total, when looking at all age groups in all counties of Estonia, the rate of vaccination is highest on the islands of Saaremaa - 35.16 percent - and Hiiumaa - 40.59 percent. Harju County's rate is 23.07 percent and Ida-Viru County's is the lowest on 17.46 percent.
Nine counties have a vaccination rate of more than 30 percent and three are over 25.
When looking at the over 60s, the vaccination coverage rate shows similar patterns.
Hiiumaa has vaccinated more than 77 pecent of people, Harju County 54.13 percent and Ida-Viru County 32.77 percent.
Eight countries have vaccination rates between 60 and 70 percent and four counties are over 70 percent. Valga County has a rate of 58.61 percent.
Vaccination for the over 50s started on Monday and the first vaccines were administered in Estonia on December 27.
Harju County
In total, when looking at all age groups in Harju County, Maardu Parish has the lowest rate at 13.29 percent followed by Rae Parish on 19.20 percent and Tallinn is third on 22.54 percent.
Kuusalu and Kose parishes have the highest rates at over 30 percent.
Looking at the over 60s in Harju County, it can be seen that Loksa has the lowest vaccination rate at 29 percent followed by Maardu on 30 percent. The city of Tallinn's rate is the third lowest on 51.57 percent.
Lääne-Harju and Anija parished both have rates over 50 but below 60 percent. All other parishes have a rate of over 60 percent and five are over 70 percent.
Saku Parish's rate is the highest at more than 77 percent.
ERR's Estonian portal reported vaccination rates in districts of Tallinn for the over 70s.
While almost 57 percent of the over 70s have been vaccinated in Tallinn as a whole, Lasnamäe's rate is 47 percent and North Tallinn's is 48 percent.
Kristiine and the City Center have a coverage rate of 64 percent, Haabersti is 59 percent and Mustamäe's is 58 percent.
The highest rates are in Pirita (78 percent) and in Nõmme (72 percent).
Tartu County
In total, in Tartu County, the highest rate of vaccination is in Nõo Parish where 31.91 percent of residents have been vaccinated. Kastre Parish follows on 31.48 percent and then the City of Tartu on 30.69 percent.
Of the eight parishes in Tartu County, five have vaccination coverage rates of over 30 percent. Luunja, Elva and Tartu parishes all have over 27 percent coverage rates.
In the City of Tartu, 28,280 people have been vaccinated at least once and 10,467 people have been vaccinated twice.
Looking at people over 60 years old, then Kambja Parish has the highest rate at 73.18 percent, followed by Luunja Parish on 72.21 percent and then Kastre Parish with 71.65 percent. The City of Tartu is fifth with 67.71 percent of its older population vaccinated.
Ida-Viru County
In Ida-Viru County, looking at all age groups, the highest rate of vaccination is 29.82 percent in Tõila Parish followed by Alataguse Parish on 27. 37 percent and Jõhvi Parish with 23.59 percent.
The lowest is Narva with 14.10 percent, Sillamäe on 15.06 percent and Kohtla-Järve 16.83 percent. In total, 7,674 people have been vaccinated in Narva.
Looking at the over 60s, patterns are similar. Tõila Parish (56.22) and Alataguse Parish on (51.59) lead but Sillamäe has the lowest rate on 27.33 percent. This means 1,271 people have been vaccinated.
Narva is the second-lowest on 28.09 percent with 5,128 people vaccinated.
Last week, the government launched a 1+1 vaccine scheme in the county to encourage younger people to take their elderly friends and relatives to get vaccinated. If a younger person accompanies an older person they can both get vaccinated.
Many people in Ida-Viru County, a majority Russian-speaking region, do not trust the vaccines and are particularly skeptical towards AstraZeneca. Many people have said they are waiting for Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, which has not been approved by the European Medicines Agency and is not in use in Estonia.
More data can be found on the Health Board's website.
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Editor: Helen Wright