The national vaccination programme includes vaccinations against many infectious diseases. Vaccinations are available to everyone under the age of 18. Each vaccine is given at an age that provides the child with the optimal protection at the right time.
Vaccinations protect against infectious diseases. In the days before vaccinations were given, these diseases were some of the main causes of death among children. They also killed expectant mothers and other adults. In addition to giving protection against infectious diseases, vaccination also protects against tetanus which used to be fatal to many people.
Vaccinations do not necessarily give complete protection, but they do give long-term resistance. When most of the population is vaccinated, the children who have not yet had their vaccinations are also better protected.
As a result of vaccinations, smallpox has been eliminated worldwide. Vaccination has almost entirely eliminated diphtheria, polio, meningitis caused by HIB bacteria, epiglottitis, and sepsis as well as measles, rubella and mumps.
Vaccinations of the national programme for children and young people provide protection for example against following diseases:
Vaccinations that are included in the national vaccination programme are free of charge.
Babies are given their first vaccinations at the maternity clinic at the age of two months. During the year, babies are given vaccinations three times against infantile diarrhoea, pneumococcal meningitis, pneumonia, sepsis and ear infection.
A combination vaccine is given three times. The vaccine gives protection against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and Hib diseases. These are meningitis, epiglottitis and sepsis.
The influenza vaccine is given to all infants and small children (from 6 months to 6 years of age) during the winter periods. During their second year, toddlers receive the MMR vaccine which protects them against measles, mumps and rubella. The vaccination is given again when children are six years old.
Lapset saavat 1,5 sekä 6-vuotiaina ja myös 11-vuotiaina
At the age of one and a half and again at six children are given a chickenpox vaccination and also at the age of eleven if they have not had chickenpox before the time due for the vaccination. Four year olds are given a booster vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio. The first three of these are vaccinated against again when a young person is 14-15 years old.
At the age of 10-12 years yougsters are given a vaccination against cancers caused by the human papillomavirus, such as cervical cancer, cancers of the vagina, vulva, anus, penis and the neck area.
No. Being vaccinated is always voluntary. Permission for vaccinations is requested from parents when children who are not yet able to decide for themselves are offered vaccinations. Take-up of vaccinations under the vaccination programme in Finland is quite high as very few people refuse to bring their children to be vaccinated. Because of what is known as community immunity, it is important that all or almost all children are vaccinated. When a sufficiently large proportion of the population have been vaccinated and are resistant to the disease, then those that have not been vaccinated have a greater probability of not falling ill. Community immunity requires a larger coverage of vaccination, the most infectious the disease is. For example to protect against measles, a 95 per cent vaccination coverage is required.
If the coverage of a certain vaccination is insufficient in an area, groups of non- vaccinated children who are susceptible to the disease can form in nursery schools and schools and epidemics are then a possibility.
The school health care service always checks that the children have been vaccinated in the clinic. If a child or young person is missing some childhood vaccinations, they can be given at school.
Information about vaccinations is recorded in an electronic patient data system and a parent or guardian can ask to see the information held there. Vaccinations are also entered onto a childhood health card and, if necessary, onto an international health card.
The vaccination entries also say in what part of the body the vaccination was given. This information is necessary if previous vaccinations have led to a child having symptoms.
Those in risk groups and those resident in risk areas are regardless of age entitled to vaccinations for tuberculosis, pneumococcal infection, influenza, tick-borne encephalitis, hepatitis and meningococcal diseases free of charge.
Tuberculosis vaccine is offered to those children under the age of 7, and pneumococcal vaccine for those children under the age of 5, who have are at high risk of severe disease.
Children in influenza risk groups continue to receive the annual vaccine even after turning 7 years old. For meningococcal vaccine there are no age limits.
The vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis is administered for free to all people older than 3 years whose municipality of residence in Finland is in one of the areas at risk or who spend long time periods there, for example during vacations. See the list of the areas at risk for tick-borne encephalitis on the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare (In Finnish).Opens in a new window.
The hepatitis vaccine is available free of charge, regardless of age, to anyone with an increased risk of contracting both infections, such as children and adults with bleeding disorders. You can find a detailed list of risk groups for hepatitis on the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare´s website (In Finnish).Opens in a new window.
Young patients who have received stem cell transplants are, following treatment, more prone than normal to many diseases. Because of this their vaccinations have to be begun again following treatment.
A child who has not been vaccinated, and who is not registered in Finland’s social security system, is nevertheless entitled to receive the vaccinations that are part of the national vaccination programme. The entitlement covers, for example, asylum seeker children or foreign children who are living temporarily in Finland. A foreign child can be given all the necessary vaccinations with an accelerated schedule if a health check shows that the vaccination protection is incomplete.
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