According to the agreements between the EU and the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, millions of extra doses of Covid vaccine will arrive in Finland this year, Yle says on Thursday.
Ilta-Sanomat states that last August Pfizer raised the price of its vaccine to € 19.50 per dose, meaning that if there were more than five million doses left in the vaccine, it would be equivalent to almost € 100 million. "thrown down the well"as the IS says.
A decision on the fourth round of vaccination has not yet been made. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has not yet authorized the fourth dose of the vaccine and there are no indications yet.
If the fourth round of vaccination is not done for the entire population, Finland will have a surplus of almost 200 million euros, the magazine writes.
Vaccines are state property, so the government ultimately decides what to do with them.
Donating the surplus to other countries is a likely solution. IS quotes Mia Kontio According to the National Institute for Health and Welfare, the best scenario would be to send vaccines reserved for Finland directly to other countries from the Pfizer plant.
However, IS points out that this would not eliminate the fact that taxpayers continue to pay the bill for surplus vaccines. The magazine also points out that this is a legal liability. Who is responsible if something happens, the pharmaceutical company, the donor country or the recipients?
Not for expanding the treatment of illegal immigrants
According to a report by the Uutissuomalainen group, among other things in Friday’s newspapers Central FinlandFinland’s new Minister of Family and Social Affairs Who is Linden (SDP) opposes the extension of emergency medical care to illegal immigrants.
Some Finnish cities already provide public medical services to illegal immigrants, but Lindén told Uutissuomalainen that he did not intend to expand this to a national policy.
According to Lindén, there is no justification for giving urgent care to people who "should not even be on land" in a situation where many in the population feel that they themselves do not have access to adequate medical care.
However, the minister added that he did not intend to take action to prevent anyone from treating illegal immigrants.
"I think it fits in well with medical ethics. I am by no means criticizing or criminalizing what they do. It is a completely different matter whether society should take responsibility for its formal organization," said Linden.
He further pointed out that first aid is a different matter, "If someone hits themselves with an ax or gets under a car, they should get help without asking who you are and where you are coming from."
Resource shortage at the resort
Reservations in Finnish ski resorts have recovered and are waiting for the busiest coronavirus pandemic.
Journal of the Farmers’ Union Rural Future reportsHowever, the shortage of staff in the restaurant sector means that services may not meet pre-pandemic standards. Based on a telephone survey, the magazine writes that it has never been so difficult to find seasonal workers in restaurants in resorts.
The Finnish Hospitality Association MaRa estimates that 10,000–25,000 employees left the restaurant industry during the pandemic.
CEO of the association Timo Lappi He said it would take a long time to fill the labor shortage in the sector and told the newspaper that barriers to labor migration would make the situation even more difficult.
"Staff shortages will be an obstacle to the growth of the restaurant industry in the coming years. Eliminating labor shortages will take several years, and even then migrants will be needed," Lapland said.
Protest by motorists
Morning paper gives Tampere residents a warning that in the late afternoon, city traffic may be disrupted by a protest by motorists protesting against high driving costs.
Demonstrators demand cuts in fuel tax.
In addition to Tampere, demonstrations, including vehicles, have also been planned this weekend in Helsinki, Rovaniemi, Oulu, Kuopio, Jyväskylä, Tampere, Lappeenranta, Turku, Pietarsaari, Kajaani and Seinäjoki.
Source: The Nordic Page