The corona numbers are increasing, the vaccination programs stall. How next? Experts from the Confederation and the cantons answered questions – and did not always agree.
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the essentials in brief
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New corona infections have been rising again for weeks, the cantonal vaccination programs are not progressing as quickly as expected.
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On Wednesday, the Federal Council will decide on easing or lockdown, the starting position is completely open.
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The BAG, the highest canton doctor and survey expert Michael Hermann provided information on the current situation.
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In particular, when it comes to vaccination speed and when all those willing to be vaccinated are immunized, the experts did not agree.
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Here you get to our Corona dashboard with all the numbers.
Here you can find an overview of the vaccination rates: That’s how far Switzerland is with vaccination.
2:50 pm
The media conference is over. Thank you for your attention.
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2:50 pm
Canton doctor Hauri previously said that, in his opinion, it would be autumn before all those willing to be vaccinated have been vaccinated twice. Once he even spoke of late autumn, that would be November / December. The vast majority are through earlier, but by the time everyone gets their turn, it will be autumn, Hauri makes clear. That is significantly later than the current BAG target from the end of July. We remember that in February the Federal Council and the BAG still spoke about the end of June before the target was adjusted.
Hauri raises concerns that the backlog cannot be made up at will due to the lack of vaccines, there is a limit of 100,000 to 150,000 vaccinations per day, more is not possible due to the capacities. Then you can work out for yourself that it will be autumn, he says.
Because the calculation is quite complicated and depends on those willing to vaccinate, delivery quantities and capacities, we refer to our here big vaccination special, where this is calculated in detail (About the article: How long will it take until everyone is protected?) Are there any further postponements, does our summer vacation planning fall through?
Masserey clearly contradicts the previous statements by canton doctor Hauri and says that she is still optimistic that it will work by the end of July. “Large quantities of vaccine will be delivered in the next few weeks, it really remains realistic that everyone will be vaccinated in the summer.”
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2:49 pm
Masserey: «The work is in progress». Information will be provided in due course.
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Masserey: “We haven’t signed a contract with this company. But that has nothing to do with the risk. But we will continue to follow the development. Of course, we also have to review the vaccine, including with regard to the side effects. “
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2:44 pm
In Switzerland there are no official recommendations for pregnant women with regard to vaccination, says Masserey. Ask the pregnant woman to discuss the whole thing with the family doctor.
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2:40 pm
Hauri replies: It is very complex and requires sufficient staff. Around 150,000 doses can be inoculated per day. By autumn, everyone who wants to be vaccinated should also be vaccinated twice. «It takes time, you have to be realistic. Every canton is different, also in terms of population. “
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2:33 pm
Masserey replies: “These values are only guidelines, there is no automatic mechanism. There are also other factors that politicians must take into account when deciding to open. ” At the end, Masserey says: “Four of the five benchmarks are currently not met.”
2:31 pm
Masserey says that the cantons must inform their population when vaccines are available and where people can register, that is the responsibility of the cantons. Other groups could later be admitted if enough vaccines were available, including youngsters.
Hauri adds that there is no waiting until a group is fully vaccinated if they do not register, but the transition between the groups is fluid, so that as many people as possible can be vaccinated as quickly as possible.
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2:26 pm
Masserey: These can reduce the risk of infecting others and are part of the preventive measures. A negative self-test does not rule out compliance with the hygiene measures, explains the head of the FOPH. In general, the self-tests are intended as a supplement.
Hauri adds: These self-tests are really intended as a supplement. They have the advantage that they can find positive cases that would otherwise have remained undetected and that these positive cases can then behave accordingly.
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2:24 pm
The question and answer session begins. Masserey replies to the first question: You have regular talks with the cantons in order to guarantee a quick distribution.
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2:21 pm
The following statement by Herrmann is also spicy: According to the survey, those who do not want to be vaccinated are usually less careful when it comes to complying with the corona measures. In addition, the Swiss are well informed about the various vaccines available. The rather cautious approval of the vaccines would also contribute to the fact that the willingness to vaccinate in Switzerland is rather high, says Hermann.
Articles on the topic: The criticism of the vaccine strategy by the Federal Council and the BAG is cheap, writes Michael Hermann in his column.
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2:20 pm
Now Michael Herrmann has his say. He gives figures on the vaccination readiness of the people. An evaluation has shown that the willingness to vaccinate (as of mid-March) is high. 72 percent want to be vaccinated, 23 percent do not. «In 2020 there was a slight erosion of willingness to vaccinate. Now, with the start of the vaccination campaign, the picture has changed. ” The number of those who did not want to be vaccinated had been stable over the past year.
Men are more willing to vaccinate than women. The older population is more willing to vaccinate than the younger ones. The younger ones would respond primarily to the argument of regaining the old life, for example being able to travel again.
The willingness to vaccinate has increased. While 50 percent were unwilling or indecisive in October 2020, in mid-March it was only 23 percent.
Those: Sotomo
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2:17 pm
Hauri also complains that there are still not enough vaccines available. Despite the positive signs in the cantons, caution is still required. Hauri says in no uncertain terms: “We are not yet in a stable position.”
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2:14 pm
Rudolf Hauri is now speaking. The number of cases is currently too high, explains the Zug canton doctor. The broad testing of the population makes it possible to prevent restrictive quarantine measures. The mask requirement should only be gradually relaxed.
Rapid tests are only effective to a limited extent, as they fail to detect many positive cases. The positivity rate is therefore no longer one of the guideline values that are decisive for opening steps.
Articles on the topic: Business calls for radical opening: That would be the consequences of 30,000 cases per day
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2:09 pm
Variant B.1.1.7 has become firmly anchored in Switzerland. The Brazilian and South African variants, on the other hand, are hardly available in Switzerland.
Masserey gives numbers for the vaccination campaign. Of 2.3 million doses, 1.814 million have been administered. That makes 21 cans per 100 inhabitants, which is the European average, says the head of the BAG. 13 percent of the Swiss population received at least one dose.
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The following people are present at today’s media conference:
– Virginie Masserey, Head of Infection Control Section, Federal Office of Public Health FOPH
– Rudolf Hauri, Cantonal doctor Zug, President of the Association of Cantonal Doctors
– Michael Hermann, Managing Director, Sotomo
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The BAG reported 2241 new coronavirus infections within 24 hours on Tuesday. At the same time, the BAG registered ten new deaths and 82 hospital admissions.
On Tuesday a week after Easter, the new cases of the last 96 hours were reported, the numbers are therefore not comparable. On the previous Tuesday there were 1923 cases, 75 hospital admissions and 19 deaths.
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Posted today at 1:24 p.m.
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