Two international research consortia, led by the University of Tartu, received €30 million from the European Commission for the development of two research centres in Estonia over the next six years; the Estonian government will also donate €30 million.
The next wave of COVID-19 to hit Estonia is expected to be less severe, said Peep Talving, medical director and board member at North Estonia Medical Center (PERH). Hospitals themselves are likewise better prepared, although not all isolation facilities have yet finished being built.
Heads of major hospitals find that vaccination of people in risk groups is still the most effective measure for alleviating next fall's coronavirus wave and avoiding lockdowns. There is no way to hire enough extra staff or refit hospitals before then.
Coronavirus infection rates in Tartu County are considerable higher, at over a thousand per 100,000 inhabitants, compared with fewer than 650 in Harju County. At the same time, one doctor says, hospitalization rates in South Estonia remain stable, though this is in danger of changing with the spread of the Omicron variant, and should be controlled rather via vaccinations instead of restrictions.