Adults
The vaccines included in the National Immunisation Programme are available from health centres free of charge. At private medical centres, vaccines are subject to charges. Adults are responsible for ensuring that their immunisations are up to date.
- Some vaccines that are first administered in childhood and adolescence are boosted in adulthood to maintain immunity. The diphtheria and tetanus vaccine requires a booster shot once every 20 years until you are 65-years-old after which you take a booster every 10 years.
- The polio vaccine does not require a booster in adulthood in normal cases, but the booster is recommended for people travelling to or from a risk area as well as their household contacts.
- Everyone must be immunised against measles, rubella and mumps either by having previously had the diseases in question or by having received two doses of the MMR vaccine.
- The influenza vaccine is provided free of charge to adults to whose health influenza poses a significant risk, or to whom the influenza vaccine offers a significant benefit. It is also given to those in close contact with persons particularly susceptible to severe influenza and to social, health and pharmaceutical care personnel who participate in the immediate care of patients and customers.
- The tick-borne encephalitis vaccine, or TBE vaccine is given free of charge to those who live permanently or in the summertime in areas where the incidence of TBE is high.
- People who are at an elevated risk of Hepatitis A and B infection due to their living circumstances are eligible for free vaccines for Hepatitis A and B.
- The pneumococcal vaccine is given free of charge to persons who have received a stem cell transplant, to those under 75 years of age who are severely immunocompromised or have a severe renal disease (GFR ≤ 30, nephrotic syndrome) and to 65-84 years old persons with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Employers pay for vaccines required by their employees due to work-related reasons and business travel.
- More information on vaccines, especially those recommended for travel, is available in the Traveller’s Health Guide published by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (in Finnish)
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Vaccine |
For who and when? |
|
Diphtheria and tetanus vaccine, dT |
Booster shots at 10 (for over 65-year-olds) and 20 (for 25–65-year-olds) year intervals |
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Polio vaccine, IPV |
A booster vaccine, if a person travels to a country with a high risk of polio for over four weeks, or arrives in Finland after staying in a country with a high risk of polio for over four weeks (12 months after the last vaccination) |
|
Measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, MMR |
All adults must be immunized either by having previously had the diseases in question or by having received two doses of the MMR vaccine |
Further reading