Switzerland destroys vaccine doses – and buys millions of new ones
The federal government has problems passing on expired vaccine doses to countries in need. Health politicians are outraged.
–Surplus vaccine from Switzerland is to be passed on to the Covax initiative for poorer countries. Instead, he is destroyed.
Photo: Ben Curtis (AP)
Switzerland has to destroy more than 600,000 Covid 19 vaccine doses because their sell-by date has expired, as the federal government has confirmed. At the same time, people who want a fourth dose of vaccine will probably soon have to pay for it themselves. Wouldn’t it be better to give away the nearly expired funds for free?
“Yes, at first glance it looks like a contradiction,” says SVP National Councilor Thomas Aeschi. “But at some point you have to go back to the Courant normally.” So if you need a fourth vaccination for a trip, for example, you should pay for it yourself – as is the case with other vaccinations, for example against yellow fever.
Formally, the justification for the possible obligation to pay, which the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) submitted to the cantons for consultation this week, is that there is no official approval for a fourth vaccination. The Federal Vaccination Commission (Ekif) does not consider a second booster vaccination to be necessary for the vast majority of people. The second booster is not banned, but is considered “off-label” use, which the doctor and patient decide on their own responsibility.
The virus is not yet under control
Ruth Humbel, health politician in the middle, finds it difficult to understand the Ekif decision. “Even a year ago, the Ekif hesitated for a long time when it came to a booster vaccination,” says the National Councilor. “And then the booster suddenly had to be done very quickly.” She thinks it’s too early to let people pay for themselves now. “First you have to be certain that we have the virus under control,” she says. And that’s not the case yet.
The Federal Council is expected to decide on payment for a fourth Covid 19 vaccination on June 10th.
Both Aeschi and Humbel find it incomprehensible that hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses are now being destroyed. Aeschi emphasizes that it has always been communicated that excess vaccine doses should be passed on. “It is really to be regretted that this did not happen in time.”
“Such a waste of taxpayers’ money is unacceptable.”
“That’s not sustainable,” says Humbel. “The authorities see early when the vaccines expire.” The BAG would have to take action well in advance in order to pass on such surpluses to countries in need. “Such a waste of taxpayers’ money is unacceptable.”
Switzerland currently has 6.9 million vaccine doses in stock, as confirmed by the BAG. “It was deliberately accepted that under certain circumstances too much vaccine was procured for Switzerland’s needs,” emphasizes a BAG spokesman. “The goal is still to protect the population in Switzerland at all times with a sufficient quantity of the most effective vaccines available.”
The pharmaceutical companies dictate
Gabriela Hertig, health expert at the human rights organization Public Eye, also holds the pharmaceutical companies responsible. Switzerland’s contracts with the companies are not public, but it can be assumed that the companies have a right of veto when passing on vaccine doses. “The countries must agree to accept liability for any side effects,” says Hertig. “There are countries that cannot afford it financially. This shows that the industry can dictate the conditions.”
The most important recipient of donated vaccine doses is die internationale Covax-Initiative, which supplies the poorest countries in the world. According to Covax, Switzerland has shipped 1.8 million cans so far and has pledged another 7 million by the end of June. The Federal Council announced in February that it would forward up to 15 million doses to Covax in the first half of the year. “How many doses can actually be passed on is currently still the subject of negotiations between Covax, the manufacturers and the federal government,” said a BAG spokesman. “This process is complex.”
Global vaccine oversupply
A week ago, Covax called again for the urgent need to close the “vaccination gap” between wealthy and less developed countries. In the poorest countries, only 16 percent of the population would have received a first vaccination against Covid-19, compared to 80 percent in the richer countries. However, Covax admits that there is now a “global oversupply” of vaccine that exceeds demand. Due to this oversupply, the Covax initiative is not always willing to accept further donations, as a spokesman for the German Ministry of Health complained in April.
Despite the oversupply in Switzerland, the federal government plans to buy 2.6 million doses of vaccine from Moderna and Pfizer per month from July to December, plus several hundred thousand doses of the vaccine Novavax. The Finance Committee of the Council of States criticized this this week. “The Commission considers the quantity of cans to be procured to be too large,” she said. Parliament will deal with it in the summer session starting next week.
Hans Brandt is a domestic editor and has been with Tamedia since 1987, with positions as team leader for analysis and background, foreign editor and correspondent in southern Africa.
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