(Refreshment) vaccines against coronavirus are also free for the Swiss population in the current year. However, the desire to be vaccinated against Covid has decreased significantly in recent months. “NZZ” reports that only 37 percent of those over 65 have received either a first vaccine or a booster in the past six months.
According to the report, Switzerland “miscalculated when ordering a Covid vaccine”. The newspaper is based on figures from the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG). By 27 December 2022, a total of 32.6 million doses had been delivered to Switzerland, of which approximately 17 million were administered. Only 4.2 million boxes went abroad.
Less vaccination requests than expected
Therefore, the calculation that any surplus could be easily transferred to other countries did not work. Because every batch of vaccine has an expiration date, Switzerland had to destroy millions of doses. By the end of 2022, approximately 3.4 million doses of vaccine have been destroyed in this way. This does not include the approximately 7.8 million cans that Switzerland stores in a warehouse in Belgium, according to “NZZ”. Their disposal took place in the fall.
According to the newspaper report, Switzerland is one of the countries that stock the most vaccines in the world by population – according to BAG, this is due to a “safety-based strategy”. (euro)