Switzerland Today

Greetings from Lausanne!

As we know, pictures help tell a story, and social media is increasingly seen by governments as a critical communications tool.

In 2018, more than 80% of national governments around the world were present on Instagram. The Swiss government is rather late to the party: today it officially launched its Instagram page to target young people.

Don’t expect photos of Sports Minister Viola Amherd jogging by a lake or Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis lounging with a book on a sofa. There’ll be quizzes and entertaining informative formats to explain things like energy strategy, the Federal Chancellery says. Government departments have recruited ten people to manage social media channels like Instagram; TikTok may follow.

Keystone / Peter Schneider

In the news: Albert Rösti throws hat in ring, Gazprombank, climate activists and Swiss president condemns Russia attacks.

• Swiss President Ignazio Cassis has sharply condemned Russia’s rocket attacks today against Ukrainian cities. He called on Russia to end its “indiscriminate attacks” immediately.
• As expected, Bern parliamentarian Albert Rösti (photo above) has thrown his hat in the ring as a candidate to succeed Ueli Maurer in the Federal Council. The 55-year-old politicianExternal link will compete against Bern parliamentarian Werner Salzmann. Other candidates from the rightwing Swiss People’s Party are expected. Parliament will elect Maurer’s replacement on December 7.
• Swissmedic has approvedExternal linkPfizer’s new bivalent mRNA Covid booster vaccine, which is tailored to the BA.1 version of Omicron and the original virus first detected in China.
• Russia’s Gazprombank has decided to cease operating in Switzerland after “a strategic review of various options”, it said today. The bank had been one of the last remaining channels for financing trade flows between Russia and Switzerland because other major Russian banks are subject to sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• Climate activists who blocked the entrance to Switzerland’s main oil refinery, located in the northwest of the country, were arrested today by police and their barricade was removed. They reportedly belong to the Swiss branch of the “Debt for Climate” group, who say they want to “keep fossil fuels in the ground”.
• Five additional countries, including Nigeria, now benefit from an automatic exchange of banking information with Switzerland, taking the total to over 100 for the first time.

© Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

Covid-19 booster shots available to Swiss residents.

From today, Covid-19 boostershots will be available free to Swiss residents. The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and the Federal Commission for Vaccination recommendExternal link as a priority that people aged 65 or over, and those aged 16 to 64 with an increased risk, for example anyone with a pre-existing disease or pregnant women, get a Covid booster shot this autumn.

The FOPH saysExternal link that an additional booster can “contribute to reducing the number of severe cases and thus to preventing the healthcare system from becoming overstretched in autumn and winter”.

For anyone aged 16-64 without risk factors, a booster vaccination “makes sense after individual assessment… to reduce the risk of a serious and rare infection”, the FOPH says.

“Unlike at the start of the pandemic, however, people without risk factors are at low risk of contracting severe disease this autumn.”

After a quiet summer on the virus front, case numbers are rising again as the country heads into autumn. A total of 25,134 new Covid cases were reported last Tuesday for the previous seven-day period, up almost 50% on the previous week. However, the number of intensive care beds occupied by Covid-19 patients and reported deaths remain at a very low level. 

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

Swiss government finally joins Instagram.

The government is extending its presence on social media. Today it launchedExternal link its official government Instagram page to target the 16-35 age group.

The seven-member Swiss cabinet will publish its decisions and important background information on Instagram as a pilot project.

The trial is part of the government’s communications strategy decided last year aimed at increasing the visibility of the work of the ministers and the presidency.

The government is already present on YouTube and Twitter. An estimated 2.5 million people in Switzerland (of a total population of 8.7 million) have an Instagram account, according to the Keystone-SDA news agency. In 2018, over 80% of the national governments around the world were present on Instagram.