Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

National vaccination week starts early November, says paper

Young woman gets Covid jab
The Swiss government hopes this drive will boost the rate of vaccinated people in the population, which is currently below many other European countries. Keystone / Gaetan Bally

A letter from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) to the Swiss cantons gives details for the national vaccination week, which will start in early November, reports the Sonntagsblick newspaper.

“Berset’s troops will go door to door” with 17,000 anti-Covid counsellors, the paper writes on Sunday. Health minister Alain Berset has put his weight behind this plan, announced by the government on Friday.

More

The FOPH aims to reach a vaccination rate of 93% among the over-65s and 80% among the 18-65 age group, writes Sonntagsblick, compared with an overall rate of under 60% at the moment. As well as counsellors, it will be deploying mobile vaccination buses to reach 50,000 inhabitants.

Medicine ‘not an alternative’

Lukas Engelberger, president of cantonal health directors, is also backing this vaccination drive, writes the Sonntagszeitung. He says a drug against Covid-19, which some pharmaceutical companies want to bring to market, is not an alternative to vaccination. Switzerland cannot afford to stop vaccinating on the pretext that a drug is on the horizon, he concludes.

The news of a drugExternal link that could halve the number of hospital admissions has caused a stir. In the SonntagsZeitung, the leader of the conservative Swiss People’s Party Thomas Aeschi calls for abolition of the compulsory Covid certificate. Some other politicians are also calling for the certificate – requiring full vaccination or recent testing – to be reconsidered if Covid-19 becomes less dangerous.

The Covid certificate has been compulsory since September 13 for access to indoor public places like bars, restaurants and museums, while many Swiss firms as well as educational institutions are also making it compulsory.   

Most Read
Swiss Abroad

Most Discussed

News

No Swiss bank in phase with environmental objectives

More

Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF

This content was published on None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.

Read more: Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF
UNRWA provides emergency assistance to just over one million Palestine refugees, or about 75 per cent of all Palestine refugees in Gaza, who lack the financial means to cover their basic food.

More

Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

This content was published on The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.

Read more: Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR