On Monday, the Health Board announced that it would begin publishing the vaccination statuses of those diagnosed with the coronavirus only once a week instead of reporting it daily, as has been done so far.

Instead, the numbers will now be released in the board's weekly overviews on Wednesdays.

"The overview will contain more thorough analysis, which will also show that the rate of vaccinated people in Estonia is considerably higher than unvaccinated people. And if these infection numbers are a little higher for vaccinated people, then considering that there are more of them, we can show that infections among them are actually far lower than among those unvaccinated," Härma said on Tuesday morning.

"But this picture is not painted in the daily numbers, where it says that there were 200 people infected and 170 of them were vaccinated. It actually gives the opposite impression," the Health Board official said.

The board noted on Monday that a year has passed since the first coronavirus vaccinations were administered in Estonia, but there are several additional factors to consider when it comes to immunity in that time.

Many vaccinated people contracted Covid over six months after their vaccination, meaning its efficacy had been reduced. Also, the coronavirus Omicron strain is likelier to infect people regardless of vaccination status.

The board also noted that 80.9 percent of the 162 people hospitalized with severe Covid symptoms reported as of Monday, were unvaccinated. "This is the most important indicator," the board's statement added.

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