Most Swiss want insurance to cover Covid-19 vaccination

Covered: Most surveyed say there should be a punishment when people flout mask requirements, and that health insurance should pay for vaccination against the coronavirus. Keystone / Sebastian Kahnert

A survey has revealed Swiss public opinion on vaccination and whether to punish those who don’t comply with coronavirus pandemic measures.

Among those surveyed, 49.2% said that a Covid-19 vaccine should be covered by basic health insurance for anyone who wants to be inoculated. Another 17.4% said the vaccine should be covered and mandatory for everyone, while 17.9% said it should only be covered for those in risk groups – as is the case with flu jabs.

The representative survey was conducted by internet comparison service Comparis, which questioned over 1,000 respondents from around Switzerland.

Nearly 20% of those under 56 said everyone should be vaccinated, compared with 11.9% of 56- to 74-year-olds. The proportion of those in favour of compulsory vaccination was particularly high in French-speaking Switzerland – with 23.2% in all age groups, compared with 15.1% among German-speaking Swiss – and also among people with a high level of education.

Nearly three-quarters want there to be fines for not complying with the quarantine obligation and for giving false personal details in restaurants or clubs (73.4%) and for not disclosing contact details after a positive coronavirus test (68.7%).

A majority of respondents (66.7%) said that failure to comply with the obligation to wear masks in prescribed places should be punished. However, 67.9% said they didn’t want fines for breaking the distance rules. This was particularly true for those under 35.

There was disagreement among respondents about renewed border closures should an entire neighbouring country be added to the list of quarantine risk countries. Half of those surveyed said temporary border closures for private individuals would make sense.

The proportion of those in favour of closing the border was higher in rural areas (51.7%) than among city dwellers (40%).