Corona: Why vaccines are lacking in Switzerland

Why the vaccine is so rare in Switzerland

The canton of Lucerne has already started vaccination. In many other cantons, such as the densely populated Zurich, the population will be vaccinated as of Monday. But the vaccination doses ordered by Pfizer / Biontech are not close enough to vaccinate the entire Swiss population.

In the canton of Zurich, 36,000 doses of vaccine are expected by the end of January. Since each person has to be vaccinated twice, this is enough for 18,000 people. However, it is estimated that more than 230,000 people live in Zurich who are particularly at risk. Vaccine is not just a rare commodity in Zurich: in Solothurn only 50 people can be vaccinated per day at the moment, in Graubünden only 4,500 people will benefit from vaccination in January.

Switzerland is not the only country that complains about delivery jams. But critics say the vaccine shortage is mostly self-inflicted. “Switzerland should have taken some risk by ordering a sufficient quantity for the general population from all manufacturers,” Andreas Faller told the Sunday newspaper. Faller is a lawyer and was deputy director of the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) until 2012. “People die, the economy is damaged, every minute is precious. It is incomprehensible why the FOPH was so hesitant to buy the vaccine, ”Faller continued.

Although US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced in the summer that the timing of the contract was influenced by the delivery of the vaccine, Switzerland was hesitant to sign. The contract for the delivery of three million doses of vaccines with Pfizer was not signed by Switzerland until early December. This means that Switzerland is still behind the EU in the supply chain, which it signed in November.

The only hope remains approval of the other Moderna and Astra-Zeneca vaccines. The vaccine of the American pharmaceutical company Moderna is manufactured, among others, by the Basel pharmaceutical company Lonza in Visp (VS). Shortly before the turn of the year, Swissmedic gave the Lonza plant permission to start producing the vaccine. As reported by Sonntagsblick, Lonza plans to start production in the next few days. “By the end of 2021, 300 million cans will be produced at Visp,” says Renzo Cicillini, Lonza’s plant manager. With 200 employees, the goal is to produce 800,000 vaccination doses per day in Visp.

But most cans are shipped directly overseas. Switzerland has only obtained 7.5 million doses with which 3.75 million Swiss can be vaccinated. Switzerland has ordered 5.3 million cans from Astra-Zeneca. However, it is not yet clear when this latest vaccine will be approved. (ohe)