Zurich vaccination strategy press conference: “Everyone should get vaccinated before August”

Starting December 30, there will be an online registration form, Natalie Rickli said. But it hasn’t been activated yet.

According to Christoph Berger, people with previous illnesses and those aged 75 and over must register first because the vaccine is in short supply. Immediately afterwards come people between 65 and 74 years old.

Markus Näf asked for patience.

Jan Fehr explained the Impfstrasse in Hirschengraben:

1. Triage by doctor

2. vaccination

3. Rest room for 15 minutes.

So initially 576 people can be vaccinated per day, he calculated.

“Our goal is to achieve the widest possible coverage,” said Näf. Prior notice is required such as information, reflection time and consent of the people to be vaccinated.

The large vaccination centers will not be established until March, Markus Näf said. First one in the city of Zurich, then others in the regions. The general population must be vaccinated there.

There are 358 homes for the elderly and the elderly in the canton of Zurich. These are served by mobile vaccination teams. Subsequently, it should also be possible to vaccinate in a decentralized way through family doctors. But that only works with the Moderna vaccine.

Spitex will also vaccinate immobile people at home, but that’s logistically complex, said Markus Näf, director of the vaccination strategy project.

“Everyone who wants this should get vaccinated before August,” Näf said.

Markus Näf, Vaccination Strategy Project Manager, explained the procedure.

People at risk (aged 65 and over and those with illnesses) account for almost a third of all residents of the canton of Zurich.

Initially, nearly 16,000 doses of vaccines are available from Pfizer / Biontech. Managing vaccination doses is relatively complicated. It has to be refrigerated to -70 degrees and cannot be re-refrigerated once defrosted.

A second load arrives in the first week of January, and another 50,000 cans are available by the end of January. Markus Näf hopes that the second Modern vaccine will be available soon. This only needs to cool down to -20 degrees, but this vaccine also requires two shots.

The FOPH has defined four priorities:

1. People at special risk, such as the elderly or people with previous illnesses.

2. Health workers

3. People in nursing homes and nursing homes and their staff

Four. All adults

The vaccine is free for those who want to get vaccinated, said Christoph Berger, president of the Federal Commission for Immunization Issues (EKIF).

Older people and people with previous illnesses are at special risk. “Above all, we want to avoid serious cases and deaths,” said Deputy Cantonal Doctor Bettina Bally. The effectiveness of vaccination is 95 percent. You must be vaccinated twice, two weeks apart.

Vaccination of the general population does not begin until April. There will be a large vaccination center in Zurich, after which three more will be installed in the canton. There will be enough vaccine for everyone, Rickli said.

The vaccination campaign will take months, Rickli said. First of all, people aged 75 and over are vaccinated at the Hirschengraben travel center in Zurich. There is an online registration form. The Fuhr retirement center in Wädenswil will soon be vaccinated. Starting in late January, more homes for the elderly and retirees will follow.

“That’s what we were waiting for,” Natalie Rickli said. The vaccine is here and “gives us perspective.” The canton of Zurich starts the great vaccination campaign on January 4.

At the 11 a.m. press conference M. You will be able to report on the status of work and the vaccination strategy in the Canton of Zurich:

Prisoners and staff of the Zurich Penal Institutions (JVA) were informed in the last two weeks that preferably must be vaccinated. You could already register for vaccination, but without an appointment, because at the time of writing it was not yet clear when the vaccine would be approved in Switzerland. It has been different since Saturday; Swissmedic has the Approval granted.

The city of Zurich also wrote to all employees in care and retirement centers around December 10. He reported on the effect of vaccination, side effects, approximate vaccination time and that there is an internal point of contact for inquiries. Residents have also received mail, says Gaby Bieri, medical director of the care centers and chief physician of the geriatric service.

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The first delivery of the active ingredient from Biontech / Pfizer will arrive in Switzerland in the next few days, it will contain around one hundred thousand doses of vaccine. The distribution to the cantons is the task of the army pharmacy, the detailed distribution in the canton of Zurich is carried out by a team of six Project manager Roland Näf organized.

It is a challenge logistics, especially the cold chain: the vaccine must be cooled to minus 80 degrees Celsius. 8 tonnes of dry ice per week and 150 reefer containers are available at Kloten airport.

From there, the vaccination doses are transported to the vaccination centers. One of them could be installed in the canton of Zurich at the Oerlikon exhibition center.

However, the first place where vaccines are administered is a reference vaccination center in the Travel Medicine Center (ZRM) run by the University Infectiologist. Jan Fehr at the Hirschengraben in Zurich.

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People 16 years of age and older can be vaccinated with two doses separated by at least 21 days. There is no compulsory vaccination and vaccination will be free for the entire population.

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