The epidemiological situation in Estonia has begun to improve, but experts are concerned about the spread of the South African strain of the coronavirus in the country. This was announced on April 14 by the Deputy Director General of the Health Department Marie-Anne Härma at a press conference in Tallinn.
“Today, 90% of infections in Estonia are caused by the so-called British virus strain, but the proportion of the South African strain is also gradually increasing. In cooperation with the University of Tartu, we found 37 cases of infection with this strain, ”the ERR edition quotes her as saying.
There is growing evidence that the South African strain is breaking through the vaccine’s defenses, Härma said. She noted that there is a known case of infection with this strain in Estonia after being vaccinated with the first dose.
On March 12, it was reported that Estonia became the world leader in the incidence of COVID-19.
In Estonia, vaccination against coronavirus started on December 27. The country uses drugs AstraZeneca, Pfizer / BioNtech and Moderna. In early March, a 31-year-old rescue officer died after being vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
According to the Worldometer portal, as of April 14, 115,629 cases of COVID-19 were detected in Estonia, of which more than 1,000 were fatal. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 97,889 people have recovered in the country.