THL: No medical grounds for providing a late autumn coronavirus booster to health and social services professionals
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) does not currently recommend a late autumn coronavirus booster vaccine for health and social services professionals who have no chronic illnesses. The matter has been widely publicised, but THL is not currently making any change to its recommendation issued at the end of September.
"We are continuously monitoring the coronavirus situation and new research data on the vaccines. If there are medical and epidemiological grounds for doing so, we will change our vaccination recommendations, but there are no such grounds at the moment. The wish or desire to receive a booster vaccine is not sufficient grounds for issuing a recommendation,” says Hanna Nohynek, Chief Physician at THL.
"At the moment, there is not enough research data that would support recommending a late autumn booster vaccine to health and social services professionals. The original coronavirus vaccines, for example, give neither effective nor long-term protection against coronavirus infections, infectiousness or mild forms of the disease, and we do not yet know enough about the vaccines for new variants,” Nohynek continues.
The recommendations on coronavirus vaccines are based on the assessments of the National Advisory Committee on Vaccines and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.
Adults with no chronic illnesses are well protected from serious coronavirus disease
The risk of contracting severe coronavirus disease caused by the currently circulating Omicron variants is very low for adults at working age with no chronic illnesses. If a health and social services professional belongs to the target group for booster doses in autumn 2022 due to their age or a chronic illness, a booster vaccine is recommended for them in the same way as for others in the same target group.
"People aged 18–59 with no chronic illnesses who work in health care, just like people working in other professions, are not in need of additional protection. Health and social services professionals are well protected from serious coronavirus disease,” says THL Chief Physician Tuija Leino.
Protection against infections and infectiousness obtained by health and social services professionals could, at best, also indirectly protect patients and residents at institutions providing long-term care. There is not enough research data yet on whether the variant-focused vaccines introduced in the autumn offer better and longer protection against infections and infectiousness than the original coronavirus vaccines.
"If vaccines are to be used for indirect protection, i.e. to protect patients by vaccinating health and social services professionals, they should be so effective that it would make sense for healthy adults to take them. If the impact is uncertain, it is not sufficient to justify recommending a booster vaccine,” says Leino.
At best, the original coronavirus vaccines provide approximately 50% protection from new infection for two or three months. If the hope is for booster doses with variant-tailored vaccines to prevent infections and thus reduce sickness absences, the protection is likely to be short-term and limited.
There are also other questions that relate to this topic. If booster doses were to be recommended for health and social services professionals, should they also be recommended for other professional groups in order to prevent sickness absences?
“Would a desire to reduce sickness absences for a couple of months be sufficient to justify extensive vaccinations? Should there then be a new recommendation issued after a few months?” Hanna Nohynek asks.
Why is the Finnish position different from that of other European countries?
Some European countries are recommending or providing booster doses this autumn to health and social services professionals.
According to Nohynek, these varying positions are due to the fact that different countries require different types of evidence for issuing a recommendation. It also depends on who makes the recommendation and what the recommendation is intended to achieve. It is normally a public health institution or ministry that can issue vaccination recommendations.
Sweden, for example, does not recommend late autumn booster doses for health and social services professionals nor for healthy adults of working age, but those aged 18 or over are still given the option of taking a booster. No distinction is made, therefore, between health and social services professionals and other adults.
Denmark, on the other hand, is recommending the late autumn booster only to health and social services professionals who treat the elderly and those at risk of serious coronavirus disease. Norway is not currently recommending or offering late autumn booster vaccinations to health professionals.
Further information:
Hanna Nohynek
Chief Physician
THL
[email protected]
Tuija Leino
Chief Physician
THL
[email protected]
