Some are getting frustrated by the slow pace of vaccination in Switzerland. Israel has now administered 96 doses per 100 and nearly 90% of those over 50 are fully vaccinated.
By 28 February 2021, only 9 doses per 100 had been administered in Switzerland and only 3% population had been fully vaccinated. Rates far behind Israel (96 per 100), the UAE (62), the UK (31) and the US (24), according to Our World in Data.
With the highest death rates occurring among older age segments it makes sense to start there, as Switzerland has. Among those 80 or over the situation in Switzerland looks better. By 28 February 2021, the rates among those 80 and over were up with Israel’s rate in some cantons. Zug (105 per 100), Geneva (94 per 100), Appenzell Innerrhoden (89) and Uri (88) led the way in numbers of doses per 100 in this age group. Solothurn (75 per 100), Fribourg (75), Appenzell Ausserrhoden (69), Schaffhausen (64), Bern (64), Graubunden (59) and Vaud (59) were not too far behind. The remaining cantons did not supply age stratified data.
For those in the next age bracket (70-79), the rates are less encouraging. The same cantons that led among the 80+ age segment led in this age group too. Zug (57 per 100), Geneva (54 per 100), Appenzell Innerrhoden (57) and Uri (50) led the way in numbers of doses per 100 in this age group. Solothurn (43 per 100), Fribourg (43), Appenzell Ausserrhoden (39), Schaffhausen (35), Bern (32), Graubunden (26) and Vaud (41) were further behind.
Further down the age scale rates drop dramatically. Even in Zug, the leading canton, the rate among 60-69 year olds was only 8 per 100. In Geneva, the same figure was 5 per 100 and in Vaud and Bern it was 12 and 3 respectively.
Switzerland’s problem appears to be supply. Of the 971,850 doses delivered to the country, 807,799 (83%) have been administered. According to RTS, deliveries from vaccine companies have been delayed. Despite these setbacks, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), says it is still aiming to offer vaccinations to everyone before summer if there are no further delivery delays, something that has slowed things down so far.
To get around vaccine supply issues, Israel appears to have leveraged it’s high tech health data system and cut a deal to provide anonymised health data to Pfizer in return for a supply commitment, according to Associated Press.
The data offers Pfizer a chance to study the long-term protection of its vaccine and whether it can prevent transmission of the virus. However, some have raised concerns around privacy and demanded more information on what the government means by anonymised data.
There are also suggestions that the Israeli government paid a premium for priority access to the vaccine, although neither side will confirm this. Israeli media have reported that Israel paid at least 50% more than other countries, according to Associated Press.
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