Estonia is opening vaccination centres on Monday, 17 May, and will start vaccinating all adults – including foreign nationals – against COVID-19.
The organisers of the vaccination efforts ask people to be patient – to alleviate the appointment load, the Estonian digital register will start accepting appointments from people 40 and over on Thursday, 13 May, and to everyone else – 16 and older – from Monday.
The vaccination centres will open at the Tallinn Kaja culture centre and the sports arena of Tondiraba; at Ahtme and Narva hospitals in Ida-Virumaa; the Pärnu hospital will continue to administer vaccines in a larger capacity at the Tervis Spa and the hospital building; the vaccine centre in Tartu at the A Le Coq sports arena will continue to operate.
In addition, the hospitals in Rakvere, Kuressaare, Hiiumaa, Viljandi, Jõgevamaa, Raplamaa, Läänemaa, Järvamaa, Lõuna-Eesti and Valga will also continue to administer the vaccines.
According to the Estonian social ministry, people who want to get vaccinated need to book an appointment in the digital registry or call the specific institutions they want to get their vaccine from. The vaccination centres don’t accept walk-ins.
A third of the population vaccinated at least once
People who already have got their first shot will get their second one at the same institution. Those interested in getting vaccinated can find the vaccination centre closest to them on the vaccination website.
Contrary to what the Estonian social ministry said on 22 April, Ülemiste Clinic is not the only clinic where expats without a family doctor can get vaccinated. According to the ministry, foreign nationals who want to get vaccinated should contact their nearest GP – wherever they live – even if they’re not registered with the doctor yet and even if they don’t have health insurance, as the vaccination is free.
Estonia should receive about 900,000 doses of vaccine in May and June, after that, the amounts should grow even larger.
As of 11 May, 375,561 people in Estonia have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine – about 35% of the country’ population.
See also: Estonia starts to ease the coronavirus restrictions.
Cover: A woman receiving a vaccination at the University of Tartu Clinic in Tartu, Estonia. The image is illustrative. Photo by Jassu Hertsmann.
