Finns Party leader Jussi Halla-aho has confirmed in an interview with Yle News that he plans to take the coronavirus vaccine, and encouraged his party's voters to do the same.
A survey by Helsingin Sanomat published on Monday revealed that 30 percent of Finns Party supporters said categorically that they would not be taking the vaccine.
"I’m definitely going to take the coronavirus vaccine when it’s my turn," Halla-aho said in an interview with the All Points North podcast.
Halla-aho’s stance on the vaccine has been a subject of public debate in Finland since he refused to confirm his intentions towards taking the shot during a party leaders debate hosted by commercial broadcaster MTV on 8 December.
The other party leaders involved in the debate categorically confirmed at the time that they were planning to take the vaccine.
In response to a question on the results of the Helsingin Sanomat survey, Halla-aho said his party's supporters were generally "critical of everything".
"I don’t think they are reluctant to get vaccines because they are supporters of the Finns Party," he replied. "I think rather that the Finns Party is an anti-mainstream party, and attracts people who are in general critical of everything. And critical of someone from the high up telling them what to do."
The podcast episode, due to be published on Thursday, is the first in a series of interviews with each of the leaders of Finland’s political parties ahead of municipal elections in April. Audience questions to be the party leaders can be submitted here.