Helsinki’s Meilahti Tower Hospital says that some of its patients who have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus also refuse to take medical measures to treat the coronavirus.
Respiratory specialist Hanna – Riikka Count told Yle that a year ago, Covid patients were ready to receive all the treatment they needed.
Today, almost all of Count’s Covid patients are unvaccinated.
"The same group that opposes vaccines is also often skeptical about drugs," he said.
Meilahti’s 18-year-old heart and lung center currently treats more Covid patients than a year ago. Since the beginning of autumn, coronavirus patients have been in the unit with 5–15 beds.
"From a broader perspective, there is a risk that misinformation about coronavirus and Covid vaccines will undermine public confidence in both medicine and the authorities," The count said.
His unit is also researching the effectiveness of medical treatments for Covid’s disease. The goal is to find treatments that prevent patients from accessing intensive care.
"Patients ’suspicion and fear drive their reluctance to participate in Covid trials," said Count, who is one of Finland’s doctors researching candidate drugs in global clinical trials called the ” Solidarity Trial ” organized by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Research Professor Kari Tikkinen, which leads the Finnish Solidarity Survey on Covid treatments, told Yle that this skepticism about the treatment facility also extends beyond the Helsinki metropolitan area. He said more people refuse to participate in the solidarity survey than enroll in it.
"Some unvaccinated young people felt they did not need a butt because their risk of getting seriously ill was low," Tikkinen said, adding that he had also heard that Covid patients regretted their decision not to vaccinate.
He noted that some Covid patients admitted to hospitals are immediately admitted to the intensive care unit due to breathing difficulties.
Typical Covid intensive care patients aged 40-60 years
The most typical ICU Covid patient is an unvaccinated male between the ages of 40 and 60 years Stepani Bendel, who heads the power department of Kuopio University Hospital.
"There are many patients whose only risk factor is non-vaccination," he said.
In recent weeks, a slight increase in the number of Covid patients has been observed in Finnish intensive care units. On Saturday, 171 Covid patients were hospitalized, the number of 67 patients in the last two weeks.
Finland has been treating Covid patients in intensive care for the past 18 months. On Saturday, just over 73 percent of those over 12 were fully vaccinated.
"As long as we have so many unvaccinated people, we will see similar ICU figures during the winter, possibly even longer," Bendel said.
Source: The Nordic Page