Haggling over anti-Covid jabs and mass events

About 16% of the population have been fully vaccinated against Covid in Switzerland so far, according to official data, but there are considerable regional differences. Keystone/Laurent Gillieron

New efforts are needed to convince elderly people in Switzerland to get vaccinated against Covid-19 according to a senior health expert.

Christoph Berger, the president of the Federal Commission for Vaccinations, said up to 35% of the 60 to 80-year-old people in some regions of the country had not got the jab.

“We have to readjust our strategy and communication to reach the elderly population,” Berger is quoted as saying in the SonntagsZeitung newspaper.

His statement comes as statistics from the Federal Office for Public Health show that four out of five people over the age of 70 have got at least one shot of anti-Covid vaccine.

A health office spokeswoman is quoted as describing the vaccination quota as “high and very high” compared with inoculations against other diseases, according to the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper.

Mass events

On a related issue, Berger said he was in favour of restricting access to mass events for people who have been vaccinated or tested negative against Covid for “quite some time”.

The government last week indicated that it only wants to keep such privileges for a short period.

Differences of opinion about easing Covid restrictions also exist between the government and the cantonal authorities, particularly about the complete re-opening of restaurants and restrictions for people gathering in groups.

Some cantonal health directors have reportedly called for a further relaxation of the rules.

The government is due decide on the next step of its phase-out plan next Wednesday.

In a series of interviews over the past week, Interior Minister Alain Berset whose portfolio includes health issues said he was optimistic that the pandemic was nearing its end in Switzerland.