Helsinki starts influenza, new COVID vaccinations in Oct

Influenza vaccinations and a new round of COVID-19 vaccinations will start at the centralised vaccination points of Helsinki on 31 October, said the City of Helsinki in a press release on Monday.

The vaccination will be given on pre-scheduled appointment and the appointment booking will remain open until end of October.

The influenza vaccination is free of charge for pregnant women, people aged 65 and older, children under the age of 7, people at risk due to illness or treatment, men starting their military service and women starting their voluntary military service, personnel in healthcare, social welfare and pharmaceutical services and immediate family members and intimate friends of those particularly susceptible to serious influenza.

COVID-19 booster vaccine will be administered to people aged 65 and older, people at risk aged 18 and older, people aged 12 and older suffering from severe immunodeficiency, people aged 18–59 who have not yet received the recommended three doses and people aged 60–64 who have not yet received the recommended four doses

The booster dose can be administered to people aged 65 and older, at risk and suffering from immunodeficiency when at least three months have passed since the previous dose or recovery from COVID-19.

As regards the other groups, vaccination will continue according to the previous recommendations.

In hospitals and care units, the new round of vaccinations will be started earlier.

If people have not had one of the previous COVID-19 doses, they can have it at the vaccination point during the autumn.

The aim is to offer the COVID-19 and influenza vaccine at the same time, where possible. In this case, people are urged to book just one vaccination appointment. They do not need to book two vaccination appointments separately.