A third are eager to be vaccinated against Covid-19

Many are reluctant to roll up their sleeves. Keystone / Adrian Wyld

Just over 35% of people surveyed in Switzerland want to get vaccinated against the coronavirus as soon as possible. In contrast, 57% don’t want the jab.

Research institute Marketagent.com Switzerland released the results of its representative survey on Sunday. From December 4-14, the institute questioned 1,000 people aged 14-74 in German- and French-speaking Switzerland.

According to the survey, a clear majority believe that the vaccine will provide protection (62%) and be safe (57%), and 63% trust that the Federal Office of Public Health will make the right decisions in providing a vaccine. Nevertheless, a majority (57%) either do not want or would rather not be vaccinated promptly.

Wait and see

“Behind this contradiction is probably the hope that a broad vaccination of the population will lead to more normality,” explained Martina Staub of Marketagent.com Switzerland in a statement. This suggests that many people want to wait and see how the vaccine works out for others.

In addition, there is scepticism towards new Covid-19 vaccines. A majority of the respondents (53%) agreed with the statement: “I am in favour of vaccination in principle, but in the case of the coronavirus I would not be vaccinated because we have too little experience with this vaccine”. Significantly more women agreed with this.

Flight attendants and cabinet ministers

According to the SonntagsZeitung Sunday newspaper, Swiss International Air Lines will introduce a compulsory coronavirus vaccination for numerous employees. SWISS told the newspaper it was “in principle not aiming for mandatory vaccination for employees”. However, the airline expects that proof of coronavirus vaccination will be required for entry into certain countries. It is therefore quite possible that this would also apply to pilots and flight attendants.

Switzerland’s top politicians also plan to get vaccinated, as André Simonazzi, the spokesman for the federal government, told the Sonntagszeitung.

“The Federal Council is getting vaccinated and recommends that citizens take advantage of the opportunity to be vaccinated against coronavirus,” Simonazzi said.