Switzerland No Longer Recommends COVID Shot for All Citizens
The government of Switzerland has stopped recommending COVID-19 vaccinations for its citizens, including those who fall in the high-risk category, such as pregnant women and persons 65 years of age and older. Swiss government officials say the new policy is an outgrowth of the large number of people in that country who have recovered from COVID or who have already received COVID shots, which likely will limit circulation of the virus, and the fact that SARS-CoV-2 variants cause milder illness. Data from 2022 shows that more than 98 percent of the Swiss population developed antibodies to COVID.1
Swiss health officials announced:
Nearly everyone in Switzerland has been vaccinated and/or contracted and recovered from COVID-19. Their immune system has therefore been exposed to the coronavirus. In spring/summer 2023, the virus will likely circulate less. The current virus variants also cause rather mild illness.2
Doctors in Switzerland Recommending COVID Shots Will Be Liable for Adverse Reactions
People in Switzerland may still be able to get COVID shots if their doctor recommends them, but they will now have to pay out of pocket for the shots.3 Government officials also announced that the federal government would not be liable for adverse reactions to the shots in segments
of the population for whom the COVID shots are not recommended. Instead, liability for adverse health outcomes will rest entirely on the doctors who recommend the shots. Swiss officials explained that:Patient education applies as with all other vaccinations. The fact is, however, that very few doctors correctly inform their patients about all risks and side effects and the limited effectiveness of the Covid vaccinations… For doctors, the justification of vaccinations is becoming more difficult due to the changed recommendations, according to a BAG document on liability issues:4
Fact checkers have been quick to dispel news stories that have made the insinuation that the government stopped recommending the shot due to vaccine safety concerns, allegations which have been circulating since the Swiss government made its announcement. Instead, it is claimed that the reason behind the government reversing its recommendation on COVID vaccination is based solely on the low prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the Swiss population’s immunity to the virus.5 However, safety concerns may have played a role in the new policy, given the Swiss government’s announcement that it would not be liable for adverse reactions to the shot for individuals for whom COVID shots have not been recommended.
The new COVID vaccination guidelines from Switzerland are a departure from the country’s previous restrictive COVID vaccination policies. In December 2021, the Swiss Minister of the Interior announced that only those vaccinated for COVID or recently recovered from the disease could go to indoor public areas including bars, restaurants and sporting events. Individuals in Switzerland, who had not been vaccinated within the previous four months or were over the age of 16, had to show a negative SARS-CoV-2 test when masks could not be worn.6
In February 2022, Switzerland lifted almost all of its COVID restrictions. President Ignazio Cassis explained: “The virus is there. We are learning how to live with the virus.”7
Switzerland joins Denmark in not recommending COVID vaccinations for its citizens and the United Kingdom no longer recommends the shots for healthy people below age 50.8
If you would like to receive an e-mail notice of the most recent articles published in The Vaccine Reaction each week, click here.
Click here to view References:
No comments:
Post a Comment