{"id":140423,"date":"2020-12-23T22:38:55","date_gmt":"2020-12-23T19:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/swiss-swift-start-on-covid-19-vaccinations\/"},"modified":"2020-12-23T22:38:55","modified_gmt":"2020-12-23T19:38:55","slug":"swiss-swift-start-on-covid-19-vaccinations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/swiss-swift-start-on-covid-19-vaccinations\/","title":{"rendered":"#Swiss swift start on Covid-19 vaccinations"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Swiss swift start on Covid-19 vaccinations<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\"COVID-19
\n Credit: Pixabay\/CC0 Public Domain
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Switzerland started its COVID-19 vaccine rollout on Wednesday, with a care home resident in her 90s receiving the first shot just four days after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was authorised.\n <\/p>\n

The woman, who lives in the Lucerne region in central Switzerland, was the first person in continental Europe immunised with the Pfizer-BioNTech jab in a vaccination campaign.<\/p>\n

Switzerland is battling stubbornly high coronavirus cases, recording around 5,000 fresh infections and 100 new deaths on Wednesday, in a country of 8.6 million people.<\/p>\n

From Tuesday, bars and restaurants began closing again across the country in a bid to rein in the outbreak, while flights to and from Britain and South Africa have been banned following the discovery of a new variant of the virus that UK officials believe spreads far more easily.<\/p>\n

Britain was the first country to deploy the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, with 90-year-old grandmother Margaret Keenan receiving the jab on December 8.<\/p>\n

European Union countries are scheduled to start vaccinations on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Switzerland has seen more than 421,000 infections and over 6,400 deaths since the pandemic began.<\/p>\n

‘Great hope’<\/b><\/p>\n

The Swissmedic regulatory authority announced on Saturday that it had app<\/a>roved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine following a two-month rolling review.<\/p>\n

The elderly and those with pre-existing conditions\u2014two million people in total\u2014are first in line for immunisation.<\/p>\n

“I am very satisfied that we have now been able to start vaccinations in the canton of Lucerne,” the region’s health services chief Guido Graf said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The neighbouring Zug canton also started vaccinating in a nursing home.<\/p>\n

“There is great hope that the vaccinations will combat the spread of the coronavirus effectively and bring it under control,” said Zug’s cantonal health director Martin Pfister.<\/p>\n

Among the main Swiss cities, Geneva and Basel are set to start their vaccination campaigns on Monday, while Zurich will get going on January 4.<\/p>\n

Geneva’s hospital received its first 5,000 doses on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

“After a month of virtual discussions, things are becoming tangible,” said Nathalie Vernaz, the cantonal pharmacist.<\/p>\n

In early November, Geneva had the worst per capita infection rates in Europe.<\/p>\n

Army distributing doses<\/b><\/p>\n

Produced by US pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer and German biotechnology<\/a> company BioNTech, the vaccine is based on a new technology that uses genetic material in the form of mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid).<\/p>\n

The Swiss army is storing and distributing the vaccine doses, which must be kept at -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit).<\/p>\n

It received an initial delivery of 107,000 doses on Tuesday, with 250,000 per month to follow from January.<\/p>\n

The vaccine is not mandatory but is free of charge.<\/p>\n

Switzerland has secured around 15.8 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, in deals with three manufacturers.<\/p>\n

It has signed contracts for around three million doses from Pfizer-BioNTech, around 7.5 million from Moderna, and around 5.3 million from AstraZeneca.<\/p>\n

With each of the three different vaccines, two doses are required per person.\n <\/p>\n\n

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Swiss secure three million more Moderna vaccine doses\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2020 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n Swiss swift start on Covid-19 vaccinations (2020, December 23)
\n retrieved 23 December 2020
\n from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news<\/a>\/2020-12-swiss-swift-covid-vaccinations.html<\/p>\n

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