Regions in Finland with higher coronavirus infection rates will not be able to get access to vaccinations before other regions, according to Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
The PM, who met with city leaders in Kouvola on Monday, said that the country's vaccination plan would proceed according to guidelines laid out by the government.
The government policy states that the first in line to receive coronavirus vaccines include social and health care workers, nursing home residents and staff as well as individuals in risk groups.
"The [policy] is formed on medically-based criteria and specifically intended to protect those at the front lines or those at risk due to health conditions or age. I think that Finland's approach is justified," Marin said.
At the beginning of last month, the city of Kouvola saw a coronavirus outbreak at a repatriation unit for the elderly , which resulted in 13 seniors' fatalities. Kouvola is located in south-eastern Finland, about 130 km northeast of Helsinki.
Marin said it is vital that residents and staff at care homes get vaccinated in time.
"When coronavirus gets into a nursing home, it can be very bad. [Such facilities] are home to the elderly, often people who are otherwise at risk as well," Marin said.
PM against broad distance learning measures
Two primary schools in the Kymenlaakso region, which includes the city of Kouvola, recently began distance learning for a limited period of time due to coronavirus exposure incidents.
However, Marin said in-person schooling should be preserved through the use of other restrictive measures, rather than transitioning schools in outbreak-hit areas to distance learning methods like many Finnish schools did last spring.
"There are also children and young people who don't do as well distance learning and don't receive enough educational support at home. Therefore, the situation should be kept under control so that schools can be kept open," Marin said.
Last week, the cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa lifted restrictions on recreational hobbies for kids and young people under the age of 20 in some areas, a decision that did not agree with government recommendations.
Some recreational activities for kids under the age of 15 are being permitted in Kymenlaakso, a region considered to be in the spreading phase of the epidemic, but broader restrictions on such activities have not been lifted in the region.
Marin said that the country is continuing to struggle with the original form of coronavirus, but also with the more infectious and possibly more dangerous variants of the virus.
"We need to keep the situation under control so that we don't find ourselves in a more difficult situation and then have to adopt harsher and tougher restrictive measures.