Auditor General Janar Holm: the vaccine stocks are too large

Auditor General Janar Holm. Photo: Tairo Lutter

Auditor General Janar Holm said in a live broadcast "Otse Postimehest", that it is reasonable to keep the vaccine stock, but questionable is, as much.

Estonia used to hold the third place in Europe as to the speed of vaccination; now nearly half of the countries have caught up with us. What are they doing better?

The gaps in vaccination rates between countries are presently quite narrow, but apparently there are some countries with smaller stocks of vaccines or they may have started with the more complicated age groups, the ones above 70 years.

But I would not pay that much attention to the ranking but, above all, to the shelves. Do all these vaccines really have to stay in the storage room? It only helps to combat the virus when it has been administered.

As of Monday morning there were 120,000 doses of unused vaccines stocked in Estonia; a quarter of the amount already used. I believe that the stocked amount is slightly too large. On the other hand, I admit that a certain stock should be held for the second doses in order to hedge the risks – for example, no AstraZeneca vaccine deliveries will happen this week, but, yes, the stock in storage should be smaller.

You sent a letter to Minister of Health and Labour Tanel Kiik on April 8, which included a number of questions and comments regarding the organisation of vaccination so far. Has the minister answered the letter yet?

Not yet. The cause of the letter was that we received a large number of questions about why various choices had been made. When we started to seek for answers on the official documents we could not find them because the documents had become outdated.

Now that Marek Seer is the head of current vaccination and Maris Jesse has the strategic approach, the exchange of information has become clearer in my opinion. Yet in know that many 50-year-olds waited already Monday night to register for vaccination and Marek Seer invited them to do so in the morning TV show, but a few moments later it emerged that this was not yet possible. Fortunately the fault was eliminated in a couple of hours.

The vaccination of 50-year-olds began in Tartu last week although the infection level is twice lower there and the percentage of those vaccinated is higher than in Tallinn where the vaccination of the younger groups is only now beginning. How does that coincide with the vaccination plan?

The target for the end of April was to vaccinate 70 percent of those over 70 years old. Unfortunately it was not met and only 62 percent were vaccinated. This is largely due to Tallinn and East Viru county.

Secondly, the gradual vaccination of younger age groups was to begin in May (it started now) and those willing should receive their first shot in June so as to vaccinate 70 percent of people by September. We do not yet know the outcome but there will certainly be problems with the elderly in Tallinn and East Viru; the impact of the virus is the most dangerous for the elderly. Yet we should not concentrate too much on those not willing to be vaccinated, because the 50–60-year-olds are already lining up. Those hesitating can catch up later.

Does the state know who has refused to be vaccinated and who wants to be but has been left aside?

This was one of our questions to Minister Kiik about the developing of a monitoring system; we have not yet received an answer. The Ministry of Social Affairs has said that those interested should contact their general practitioners. The other group of the elderly is those who dare not go out to be vaccinated because the virus is spreading well on public transport. The third group are the ones who cannot leave home and wait to be vaccinated at home or near to it.

What about vaccination of the elderly at home?

I understand that the hopes concern the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which does not need a second shot. They had not yet begun to use it last week.

Should people be able to choose the vaccine?

I trust the science which says that all vaccines are safe. Time will show whether there will be actual choice between vaccines but as a message it is nice and may give some courage – I go and get vaccinated because I can choose what they inject.

Another example of flexible approach is the East Viru county 1+1 method where one younger and one older were vaccinated together. Of course I hope that none of the elderly were brought by force.

What is the ability of the state to organise mass vaccination with large amounts?

Estonia is quite good at organising large events; guests have often praised it later. Of course we have to be careful not to make wrong choices of the target groups and the methods of reaching them as happened a month ago. We are now reaching the age groups where vaccination is not hindered by unwillingness. Now the head of vaccination can decide on his own how to carry it out and he has complete powers.

Many problems will also disappear, for example the feeling that why I couldn’t be vaccinated if my neighbour was and he does not seem to have any health problems. Once the deficit problem has been solved there will be others: have we reached the vaccination age limit among schoolchildren by September, what will happen if the third wave comes and how to organise revaccination.

Are the future issues already on the table?

The government has not yet discussed a plan extending beyond June but I am hopeful that the Ministry of Social Affairs is dealing with it.