Cantons step up controls after foreigners get Covid-19 jabs

Preparing vaccination doses at a regional vaccination centre in canton Graubünden Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller

There have been several cases of “vaccine tourists” - foreigners who are not domiciled in Switzerland - getting their Covid-19 jabs in cantons Valais and Graubünden. Both cantons have tightened their checks as a result.

Fewer than ten tourists received their vaccinations in ski areas in canton Valais, before systematic controls were imposed, the canton’s health department told the Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA, confirming a report that had appeared on the online portal nau.ch on Friday.

Since then telephone numbers and addresses are being checked. Non-domiciled foreigners and people from other cantons are being crossed off the vaccination waiting list, the authorities said. There are on average ten such cases per day.

In canton Graubünden, officials said that it was difficult to do checks because there was a very high number of holiday homes in the region. Regional vaccination centres have reported a handful of foreign citizens getting jabs or hoping to do so.

That’s why the canton has tightened its measures so that only those with Swiss health insurance are eligible for a jab, and those with residency abroad or in another canton will be turned away.

Guidelines

According to Federal Office of Public Health national guidelines, only those who live in Switzerland are eligible to receive a dose of vaccine in the country. The only exception: cross-border workers whose jobs entitles them access to the Swiss health system.

On Friday the health office said that 645,055 people had been fully vaccinated in Switzerland, that’s equivalent to 7.4% of the population. 

The Swiss government has set the ambitious target of inoculating six million people or 70% of the population – on a voluntary basis – by summer. That would require up to 70,000 vaccine shots per day.

Figures for Friday put the number of new coronavirus cases in the country at 2,519.