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The federal government wants to have vaccinated everyone who is willing to vaccinate in Switzerland before the summer. The SP Federal Councilor Alain Berset (48) has an ambitious plan for this: 45,000 vaccines will be administered throughout Switzerland in February, daily. Makes about 1.3 million. In June it should be three times more. In order to hit the target, not only should there be no further delivery delays, but a third vaccine is also needed, Berset said.
In purely mathematical terms, the federal government has ordered enough vaccines: 3 million doses from Pfizer / Biontech and 7.5 million doses from Moderna, whose vaccines have already been approved by Swissmedic. Additionally, there are 5.3 million cans of Astrazeneca, which are still pending approval.
Hundreds of thousands of cans missing
But Berset’s vaccination plans are stalled. Because there are delays in the delivery of the Pfizer / Biontech vaccine. In total, there were only about half a million doses of vaccines from the two approved providers in the country as of last week.
To meet Berset’s goals, the federal government is currently short of hundreds of thousands of doses. Vaccine deficiency is particularly pronounced in the first half of the month. The “Tages-Anzeiger” reports with reference to internal documents of the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG). If the cantons implemented the Berset Tempo, there would be no more cans on February 8. A larger installment wouldn’t be back for a week.
There is another hurdle: Astrazeneca’s third vaccine has not only been approved by Swissmedic due to unanswered questions about its protective effect. Significantly fewer vaccines will be produced in the first trimester than originally planned; the cuts should also affect Switzerland.
Hope for a fourth vaccine
According to a report by the “NZZ”, there is hope: Swissmedic is already examining a vaccine from the US company Johnson & Johnson in the ongoing approval process. Accordingly, the Federal Office of Public Health began negotiations with Johnson & Johnson in the fall, but has yet to reach an agreement.
The “NZZ” also quotes BAG Deputy Director Nora Kronig: “The situation is very volatile. But I am sure that we will have as many vaccines available that we can imagine in each trimester for the entire duration. “
Zurich reports on vaccination strategy
The situation is also a nuisance for the cantons. Because they have an obligation, and partly also in the pillory if things do not go well. For example, the canton of Zurich, which did not shine as a model student when it came to vaccinating the cans that were previously delivered, as shown by national vaccination statistics.
At a press conference on Tuesday, the largest canton will provide information on the current vaccination status and how to proceed with vaccination. As soon as larger amounts of vaccine are available in the second trimester, the general population should be able to be vaccinated at regional vaccination centers.
The Vice President of Health, Government Councilor Natalie Rickli, Deputy Cantonal Doctor Bettina Bally, Markus Näf as project director of the Covid 19 vaccination in the Canton of Zurich and Jörg Kündig, President of the Association of Canton Councils were announced from Zurich.
The press conference begins at 10 am SEE LIVE REPORTS.
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