Coronavirus vaccinations in Espoo

Book an appointment through the online system at bookcovidvaccine.fi(external link)

• Guardians can book an appointment on behalf of their child under the age of 18.

If you want to book an appointment by phone, call our number 09 816 34800 (Mon–Fri 8:00–16:00) and leave a call-back request.

• Please only call us once and wait for our call.
• Text message service for the deaf and hard of hearing, tel. 040 639 3945. 

You must book a separate vaccination appointment for each person, but the appointments may be back to back.

You can book an appointment on behalf of your child under 18 years of age through the online system at bookcovidvaccine.fi(external link). This requires strong identification, for example through online banking codes.

You can book an appointment on behalf of an elderly person through the online system at bookcovidvaccine.fi(external link) if you have been authorised to do so. You can authorise someone to act on your behalf via the Suomi.fi online service. Both the authoriser and the authorised person need online banking codes or a mobile ID for identification. At Suomi.fi, the authorisation in question is called ‘managing matters related to healthcare’. For more information about the Suomi.fi e-Authorisations, click on this link(external link).

You will receive a confirmation message on your appointments by email or text message. The message includes instructions for changing the appointment date. The confirmation message contains the required link, appointment ID and a PIN for cancelling or rescheduling your appointment at bookcovidvaccine.fi(external link). If you cancel your first vaccination appointment, your appointment for the booster dose will also be cancelled and you need to book new appointments for both.  

You can also use the appointment ID and PIN to only cancel or reschedule the second appointment. The period between the two vaccine doses must be no shorter than 6 weeks and no longer than 12 weeks and 5 days.

We have several vaccination sites, some of them are new and temporary. When using the online appointment booking system, you can find all vaccination sites and available appointments by selecting “Espoo”. You will receive directions to the vaccination site together with the confirmation message. Our temporary vaccination sites may only be open for a few days or weeks.

• Espoon keskus vaccination site, Lakelankatu 1, opened on 8 August 2022
• The Ainoa vaccination site in Tapiola. It is located on the 1st floor of the Ainoa shopping centre, next to Kaisan Cafe. There is always a swedish speaking person working in Heikintori vaccination site. 
• The Lippulaiva vaccination site will be open on Mondays and Tuesdays as of 22 August 2022. The site is located in the Espoo info, next to the library on the 3rd floor of the Lippulaiva shopping centre.
• The Sello Library vaccination site will be open on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays as of 24 August 2022. The site is located in the library on the 2nd floor of the Sello shopping centre

The primary coronavirus vaccination series consists of two vaccine doses.  The primary vaccination series is available to everyone aged 5 and over. The second dose cannot be given until at least 6 weeks have passed since the first dose.

Over 18-year-olds can get the third dose of the coronavirus vaccine after 4 months have passed since the second dose. People aged 60 and over as well as over 18-year-olds belonging to risk groups can have the third dose after three months have passed since the second dose. People with a severely weakened immune system can get the third dose 2 months after the second dose. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) recommends a third dose for 12–17-year-olds who belong to risk groups and over 12-year-olds with a severely weakened immune system. A third dose may also be given to other 12–17-year-olds if it is necessary for a special reason, such as getting a Covid certificate. 12–17-year-olds can get the third dose of the coronavirus vaccine after 6 months have passed since the second dose.

Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL): Third dose of the coronavirus vaccine(external link) (in Finnish)

A fourth dose is recommended for everyone aged over 60 and over 18-year-olds who belong to risk groups. A fourth dose is also offered to people aged 12 or over whose immune system is severely weakened. The fourth dose can be administered after 3–4 months have passed since the third dose.

Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL): Fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine(external link) (in Finnish)

A fifth dose is recommended for people aged 12 or over whose immune system is severely weakened. The dose can be administered after 4–6 months have passed since the fourth dose.

The fifth dose is also available to everyone aged over 65 and over 18-year-olds who belong to medical risk groups after 3 months have passed since the previous dose or having had the COVID-19 disease.

Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL): Does having had the coronavirus disease affect vaccinations?(external link) (in Finnish)

THL recommends that people aged 18 or over who have had the coronavirus disease get their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine at the earliest 2 months after having had the disease.

• Under 18-year-olds can get the first dose 4–6 months after having had the disease.
• People with a severely weakened immune system can have the vaccine 2 months after having had the disease.

Having had the coronavirus disease triggers an immune response that corresponds to one vaccine dose. If the vaccine is administered shortly after a person has had the disease, it may cause more severe transient vaccine reactions.

Among people who have had the coronavirus disease and received one vaccine dose, the second vaccine dose

• is recommended for people aged 60 or over and those belonging to risk groups 3–4 months after they received the first dose or had the disease, whichever happened most recently.
• can be offered to everyone aged 18 or over 4–6 months after they received the first dose or had the disease, whichever happened most recently.

For those who have had the coronavirus disease, the second vaccine dose works in the same way as a third dose for persons who have not had the disease.

To boost their protection, a person who has had the coronavirus disease will need a second vaccine dose 3–6 months after having the disease or receiving the first dose. However, a second vaccine dose may be administered earlier than this if it is necessary for travel or other weighty reasons. In this case, a second dose can be administered with the normal interval of 6–12 weeks.

A third dose is recommended for people aged 12 or over with a severely weakened immune system, even if they have had the coronavirus disease. A third dose is recommended for this group 3–4 months after they received the previous dose or had the disease, whichever happened most recently. 

The third dose is also available to over 60-year-olds who have had the coronavirus disease and to over 18-year-olds who belong to medical risk groups and have had the coronavirus disease.

Healthy under 60-year-olds adults and young people do not need a third vaccine dose for protection if they have had the coronavirus disease and received two vaccine doses.

A fourth dose is recommended for people aged 12 or over with a severely weakened immune system, over 65-year-olds who have had the coronavirus disease and to over 18-year-olds who belong to medical risk groups and have had the coronavirus disease.  The fourth dose can be offered after 3 months have passed since they received the third dose or had the disease.

The Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty mRNA coronavirus vaccine is available in all vaccination sites in Espoo. In addition, the Janssen adenovirus vector vaccine and Novavax's vaccine Nuvaxovid are available at the Espoon keskus vaccination site. If you want to have the Nuvaxovid or Janssen vaccine in Espoo, book an appointment by leaving a call-back request, tel. 09 816 34800 (Mon–Fri 8:00–16:00).

You can read more about the coronavirus vaccines on the THL website.(external link)

The aim is to use the same vaccine for the first and second dose. If, for some reason, the same mRNA vaccine is not available, another manufacturer’s mRNA vaccine can be used for the second dose.

According to recommendations, the third dose should primarily be the same vaccine as the second dose unless there is a medical reason for not using the vaccine. For a special reason, such as severe allergy or the age limit set for the AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines, different vaccines may be used for different doses. Also, if the same vaccine is not available in the municipality, another vaccine may be used for the third dose.

Pregnancy increases the risk of severe coronavirus disease. Pregnancy predisposes to severe coronavirus disease. The coronavirus vaccine protects pregnant women from severe coronavirus disease.

People who contract the coronavirus during pregnancy have an increased risk of stillbirth and premature birth. It has also been found that having the coronavirus disease during pregnancy also increases the newborn baby’s risk of needing intensive care.

Towards the end of pregnancy, the growing uterus starts to press on the mother’s lungs and reduces her lung capacity. Pregnancy and childbirth increase the risk of blood clots. The coronavirus disease increases the risk of clots further.

We recommend that everyone who is pregnant gets vaccinated against the coronavirus. You can get vaccinated at any point during pregnancy. All doses of the vaccine can be administered during pregnancy.

You do not need to stop trying to get pregnant due to vaccinations.

The coronavirus vaccine is now available to everyone aged 5 or over. The vaccine is available at vaccination sites.

Children aged under 12 must be accompanied by at least one adult. In Espoo, under 12-year-olds can only get vaccinated if they have a consent form signed by all guardians. You must bring the signed consent form with you to the vaccination site. Please discuss the vaccination with your child in advance to hear their opinion on getting the vaccine.

Print/download the consent form here: Guardian’s consent for a vaccination of a minor against COVID-19(external link).

For the time being, coronavirus vaccines will not be administered at schools.

If a person’s functional capacity is reduced and they are unable to visit a vaccination site, even if accompanied by another person, they can get vaccinated at home.

Our telephone service, tel. 09 816 34800, is open Monday–Friday 8:00–16:00. We have a call-back system. Our staff will interview the person to be vaccinated or their family member and check their patient information. Based on this information, our staff will instruct the client to visit a vaccination site or will give advice on how to get vaccinated at home.

Espoo residents of all ages whose turn it is to get vaccinated can request to be vaccinated at home by calling our coronavirus vaccination number. A long distance from home to a vaccination site, existing medical conditions, use of assistive devices, age or fear are not obstacles to getting vaccinated at a vaccination site.

If you have previously had an allergic reaction to a vaccine, you can receive the coronavirus vaccine with special arrangements. If you are for some other reason not sure if you can get vaccinated at a vaccination site, please contact our coronavirus vaccination line. Our nurse will assess your situation and give you advice on how to get vaccinated.

Coronavirus vaccination line, tel. 09 816 34800 (Mon–Fri 8:00–16:00).

If you are afraid of the vaccination situation or something related to it, tell the lobby staff about this as you arrive at the vaccination site so that we can take your needs into account and make the necessary arrangements.