Hospitals across Estonia are only next year starting work on constructing nearly 150 additional isolation wards, planned in anticipation of a surge in Covid and other virus numbers in the winter, despite millions in European Union funds being earmarked for the purpose.
Crises further demonstrate the need for a new hospital to offer modern infection control capacity, add beds and allow us to make better use of our limited medical personnel. That is why the government needs to match Tallinn's contribution of €150 million toward the medical campus, Minister of Health and Labor Tanel Kiik writes.
Hospitalization due to Covid numbers are key, the council said – if they fall below 100 nationwide, the easing of restrictions can be lifted, the newly-composed government Covid advisory council said Friday, notwithstanding a pledge made at the same press conference to not state when restrictions should be imposed or lifted.
Head of a Tallinn hospital has come to the defense of board member and Social Affairs Ministry Secretary-General Marika Priske, following media reports that the latter had received a coronavirus vaccine earlier than she should have.
As reported on ERR News, Priske, who is secretary-general at the very ministry overseeing the health sector, as well as a board member of the North Estonia Regional Hospital (PERH) in Tallinn, received the vaccine in early January, a move which on the surface looked like queue-jumping, since she was not a priority front-line worker, and therefore a misuse of position.
However, PERH chief Agris Peedu told ERR s radio news Thursday that the vaccination was a case of a dose being left in an unplanned reserve which would otherwise have been discarded.
Estonia Vaccinates 500 Medical Workers Against COVID-19 in 2 Days - Health Department Tue 29th December 2020 | 07:00 PM
HELSINKI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th December, 2020) In Estonia, 516 health workers were vaccinated against COVID-19 in the first two days since the beginning of the vaccination process, the health department said on Tuesday.
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign began in Estonia on Sunday. The first batch of Pfizer/BioNtech vaccines is intended primarily for healthcare workers, as they are at higher risk of getting infected due to close contact with coronavirus-infected patients. As of Tuesday, 516 people have been vaccinated against the coronavirus in Estonia. Most of the vaccinations were made at East Tallinn Central Hospital, the North Estonia Regional Hospital and Ida-Virumaa Central Hospital, the health department said in a statement.