Jyväskylä daily Keskisuomalainen reports that health authorities have ordered larger consignments of the seasonal flu vaccine than in 2020 after supplies ran out in several cities last year.
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare THL reports that two million doses of Vaxigrip injectable vaccine have been ordered for the national vaccination program and 118,000 doses of the FluenzTetra nasal spray for children are also on order.
THL Chief Medical Officer Hanna Nohynek told the paper that the private sector will also be procuring vaccine for 600,000 jabs.
Last winter the rate of seasonal flu was at an extremely low level due to the health safety measures in place to impede the spread of the coronavirus. Researchers are uncertain if that means that the seasonal flu this year will be a minor health issue or threaten to turn into a major epidemic.
Seasonal flu vaccinations are made available free of charge to social and health care staff, pregnant women, anyone over the age of 65, children under the age of 7, people in at-risk groups, military conscripts, and women performing voluntary military service.
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Testing cost strains
According to Tampere's Aamulehti, the money spent on Covid testing in that city this year would have funded two full-service public healthcare centres.
In total, the City of Tampere estimates that the coronavirus epidemic has increased direct costs by 28.1 million euros. Taking into account other effects on the city's economy, the total tab is 62 million euros.
It is estimated that Tampere will incur costs of approximately 11.6 million euros this year due to coronavirus testing alone.
In addition, there have been increased costs associated with the pandemic in social welfare services, early childhood education and basic education. Rising unemployment has increased spending and reduced municipal tax revenues.
Aamulehti also reports that students at colleges and universities in Tampere can now access coronavirus vaccination services on campuses. International students are eligible for the free vaccinations, as well.
The move is part of an effort to increase the level of vaccination uptake among young adults. On-campus vaccination facilities can handle around 300 people a day.
Undercutting employment?
Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) announced on Thursday that the government parties had reached agreement on climate and employment issues, and can now move ahead with approval of the a state budget draft for next year.
In a Friday analysis of the draft budget, the daily Helsingin Sanomat first points out that the government wants to ease a labour shortage by temporarily raising student income limits and increasing tax incentives for pensioners to work.
HS calculates that making it more advantageous for students to work could bring an additional 15-20 million euros into the public coffers, but only next year.
On the other hand, it notes that according to the Ministry of Finance, giving people over the age of 60 a tax break will turn out to be a drain on the treasury.
Helsingin Sanomat writes that the meagre benefits of these employment measures are likely to be an embarrassment for the Centre Party, which has vowed to apply the brakes on increased state debt.
The government stated on Thursday that it will decide on employment measures next February aimed at boosting public finances by 110 million euros by the end of the decade.
It is therefore surprising, writes HS, that the government is launching an employment measure that will weaken public finances. The paper continues by saying that it is particularly surprising that the move has been pushed specifically by Finance Minister Annika Saarikko (Cen) and the Centre Party - despite opposition from Ministry of Finance officials.
In this paper's view, such an inconsistent approach to employment measures may be explained by politics: a tax carrot for people over the age of 60 is a nice bonus for many Centre Party voters, even if it further weakens public finances.
Helsingin Sanomat also provides an online calculator to give readers an indication of how the government's budget is likely to impact their wallets.
This week's APN podcast looked at the budget discussions, worker exploitation in Qatar, and Finlan's foreigner wage gap. You can listen to the full podcast using the embedded player here, via Yle Areena, Spotify or Apple Podcasts or on your usual podcast player using the RSS feed.
Article continues after audio.
Strange light in the sky
Tabloid Iltalehti is among the papers carrying the news, photos and videos of a strange light seen in the sky over large parts of Finland Thursday night and especially in Finnish Lapland.
"I was outside and noticed a really strange ball of light was moving in the sky, followed by three smaller ones," Iltalehti reader Sirpa Määttä told the paper. "The ball progressed steadily downwards and changed shape. Its tail disappeared and the ball first brightened into a small point of light, after which it turned into a larger ball of misty light that disappeared behind the fell."
Satellite researcher Matias Takala reported on Twitter that what people saw was a Russian rocket launch.
"It seems to have been the launch of a Soyuz 2.1V rocket carrying a military satellite from the Plesetsk cosmodrome," Takala tweeted.