50 percent fewer vaccination appointments being made compared to spring
While in spring, approximately 6,000 appointments for vaccination were booked per day through the National eBooking system, the corresponding average number last week ranged between 2,000 and 3,000, Postimees reported on Tuesday.
Gea Otsa, media adviser of the COVID-19 vaccination working group, said that the consignments of the Pfizer vaccine arriving in Estonia will be significantly smaller starting from next week.
"This is because the original supply schedule is to be restored," she said. Recent larger vaccine consignments resulted from the decision to bring forward vaccine deliveries initially scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2021 for the purpose of expediting the immunization of the population, she added.
Around 2,000 to 3,000 appointments for vaccination are currently booked per day through the National eBooking system, whereas in spring, the average number of appointments made per 24 hours was around 6,000.
"This figure is obviously lower, but firstly - it's summer, and secondly - many of the people who are willing to take this step, have already either booked their appointment or received their first dose," Otsa noted, adding that the work group was pleased to see walk-in vaccinations prove very popular in a shopping mall of Tallinn's Lasnamae city district on Monday.
Walk-in vaccinations will also be launched this Thursday in the northeastern Estonian border city of Narva.
On Monday, 65,520 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by Pfizer arrived in Estonia with 10,800 more doses of the Moderna vaccine scheduled to arrive this week.
"The number of doses required for booster shots this week is 19,996 for Pfizer, 2,628 for Moderna and 1,361 for AstraZeneca while the need for the following week is 21,342 for Pfizer, 1,577 for Moderna and 471 for AstraZeneca," Otsa said.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Helen Wright