Switzerland to donate vaccines to Covax

Thursday, 13 May 2021 04:59

The health minister, Alain Berset, says Switzerland will donate 3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine it has ordered to the international Covax programme designed to help poorer countries.

In total the government has 5 and a half million doses available. But the regulator, Swissmedic has yet to approve the drug.

Berset says if approval is given, AstraZeneca will only be a small part of the country’s vaccination programme.

The current two vaccines being used, Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, use mRNA technology which many doctors say offer the best protection against possible new variants.

The AstraZeneca jab is a viral-vector vaccine.

More from Bitesize News

Parcel bomb explodes in Grange-Canal

A parcel bomb exploded in a letter box in Grange-Canal yesterday afternoon. Geneva police sealed off a large section of the area.
After autoroute rejection- what now?

A major debate is raging on what to do with the money that would have used to expand the autoroute network.
Passerelle simply too expensive

It seems it was the cost which sank the idea of the pedestrian bridge running next to the Pont du Mont Blanc.
Stolen cello recovered

A valuable cello stolen in Geneva a couple of months ago has been recovered, undamaged.
Kebab shop owner fined for bad meat

A kebab shop owner in canton Sankt Gallen has been fined after customers fell ill due to infected meat.
Move to make winter tyres compulsory

A national parliamentarian is preparing a motion that would make all car owners fit winter tyres.