“Getting off again takes a lot of work” – Ostrobothnia – svenska.yle.fi

With the lowest infection rate in all of Europe, the situation deteriorated rapidly in Central Ostropothnia. You wake up quickly, and getting down again takes a lot of work, says Peter Nieminen, chief physician at Vaasa Healthcare.

Nieminen is closely following the situation in the neighboring province of Central Ostropothnia, which over the weekend has reached an infection rate of 130.

There you see how easy it is, says Peter Nieminen. We’ve been in the same position, calm, bursting, says Nieminen.

Last fall and this winter, the Vaasa healthcare district experienced periods with similar numbers now within the healthcare municipality of Soite.

Nieminen notes that getting off again takes a long time and takes a lot of work. The fact that people adhere to restrictions and recommendations is crucial.

– That would probably be a good reminder that we didn’t have unnecessarily strong recommendations. One can only guess how many similar occasions have been avoided.

The fact that Vaasa’s healthcare district has dropped to an infection rate of 15 is a good thing, Nieminen says, although of course it had to drop to zero.

We have very few viruses here, and mostly new cases are the ones that came from outside of Ostropothnia.

Good support for vaccination

Last week, the city of Vaasa also opened vaccination for the 40-year-olds. This is because the above age group, i.e. 50 years or more, was not very active in scheduling a vaccination, so there was capacity.

– There is still no direct eruption, Nieminen says. Plus, when you get your first dose, you also commit to coming back for the second dose on the scheduled date, which is something Nieminen might suspect is influencing the decision for some.

Peter Nieminen still says the vaccination support is very good. More than 90 percent of the elderly are vaccinated.

It now applies that even the youngest age groups reach the same numbers.