Editorial Vaccines don’t stop the epidemic, they just save lives

Editorial|Editorial

Health and the Department of Welfare announced on Thursday that third doses of the vaccine will be offered to anyone over the age of 18. Booster doses can be given as early as five months after the second dose. However, vaccination of new age groups should not slow down the vaccination of people over 60 years of age and at-risk groups. They need a booster dose to protect against a serious illness.

Booster vaccinations for younger age groups, in line with the government’s new vaccination strategy, aim to reduce the circulation of the virus, although they still have excellent protection against serious disease.

At least the THL has not yet proposed vaccination for all children aged 5 to 11, but recommends vaccination for those at risk. THL wants to wait for safety information to accumulate before making a broader decision. People in this age group have been vaccinated in the world for so little time that there is not enough information about possible rare side effects. In light of experiences of narcolepsy, moderation is wise, as coronary heart disease in children is usually mild and severe forms of the disease are very rare.

“If society wants to influence the course of the epidemic by vaccinating children, and their own benefits are small, safety information is even more important,” THL chief physician Hanna Nohynek said in a department release.

Even for children vaccination will hardly stop the virus from spreading. Vaccination of all adults, on the other hand, would save lives and destroy the need for hospitalization. Resources would be freed up to treat other diseases. The most at-risk unvaccinated sixties should be vaccinated, even individually, in their own homes.

Vaccines have not made the coronavirus epidemic clear as initially hoped. They have provided excellent protection for those who have taken the vaccine against a serious form of the disease, but they have not prevented the virus from spreading. The virus infects vaccinated and onwards less well, but infections do occur.

The epidemic has also intensified over the autumn in Iceland, one of the most vaccinated countries in Europe. In Iceland, the coverage of two doses is 82% of the total population and the third is already 40%. The corresponding percentages in Finland are 73 and 6. Still, infections have risen sharply in Iceland since mid-October until the beginning of last week. The incidence in Iceland is now double that in Finland.

Hospitals carrying capacity now has to be safeguarded during epidemic peaks from previous waves, as usual: by limiting contacts so that non-vaccinated patients end up in hospitals at a slower pace.

Fighting all infections, on the other hand, is a hopeless attempt to dismantle resources. Until now, it has been said that all those who have not been vaccinated will soon become infected. In the long run, it can be that everyone who is vaccinated becomes infected. The elderly and at-risk groups may need regular vaccinations to be safe from a dangerous form of the disease. At the press conference, Mia Kontio, THL’s leading expert, speculated that younger people could survive the first vaccinations instead. After that, an additional boost to immunity comes from viral encounters, when even mild infections re-trigger the immune response.

The first vaccines should be taken for protection by every adult. It has become clear that the herd protection provided by the vaccinated does not now save the free rider.

The editorials are HS’s statements on a topical issue. The writings are prepared by HS’s editorial staff and reflect the magazine principle.