Since the beginning of July 2021, the percentage of Switzerland’s population that has received at least one shot of Covid-19 vaccine has risen by only around 3 percentage points. Switzerland now has one of the lowest daily and cumulative vaccination rates in western Europe. Switzerland is now 15 percentage points behind the UK, 12 behind Spain, 9 behind Italy and 7 behind Germany – data here.
Overall, 48% of Switzerland’s population is now fully vaccinated and 54% have had at least one shot. But the rate of vaccination has slowed sharply in recent weeks, a trend concerning Swiss health officials. Switzerland’s daily vaccination rate is now back to where it was at the beginning of April, with much of the population unvaccinated.
At the same time, new cases are rising, although less than the week before. This week, 4,988 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in Switzerland, up 6% on the number the week before (4,692). The daily number of cases on a 7-day rolling average was 713. The faster spreading Delta variant made up nearly all (96%) of the samples sequenced in Switzerland on 19 July 2021.
However, the number of deaths in Switzerland relative to cases remains low. 3 deaths were recorded this week. Vaccination seems to have weakened the link between cases and deaths.
The main concern remains the exposure of Switzerland’s unvaccinated population to the virus. With much of the spread among the younger population, rising rates of long Covid, which often affects those with mild initial symptoms, are a key concern.
There is also concern a slowing vaccination rollout may require a return to of some of the earlier restrictions on daily life, delaying the transition back to normality.
The latest reproduction rate (19 July 2021) in Switzerland was 1.26, down from 1.31 a week earlier.
More on this:
FOPH data (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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