Swiss authorise Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
GENEVA, Switzerland — Switzerland on Saturday approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, with immunisation set to start just after Christmas as the country battles rising coronavirus cases.
The Swissmedic regulatory authority said it had given the green light following a two-month rolling review.
Switzerland has been recording more than 4,000 new cases and 100 deaths every day. There have been a total of 400,000 infections and nearly 6,000 deaths since the pandemic began.
"After a meticulous review of the available information, Swissmedic concluded that the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech is safe and that its benefit outweighs the risks," Swissmedic said.
Health Minister Alain Berset added: "We can start vaccinating in the coming days.
"Those who are particularly vulnerable will have priority," he said, referring to the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.
These amount to some two million people in Switzerland, which has a population of 8.6 million.
Produced by US pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer and German biotechnology company BioNTech, the vaccine is based on a new technology that uses genetic material in the form of mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid).
"The level of protection afforded seven days after the second injection is over 90 percent in adults," Swissmedic said of the data it reviewed.
The regulator said the most frequently-documented side effects were "comparable with those after a flu vaccination".
- Curbs as infections rise -
The Swiss army will receive, store and distribute the vaccine doses, which must be kept at -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit).
The army said it had verbal assurances from Pfizer-BioNTech that it will deliver nearly 107,000 doses in the coming days, then 250,000 per month from January.
Basel city said it was ready to start vaccinations on December 28.
Health minister Berset said the vaccine was not mandatory but was "strongly recommended" -- and free of charge.
The announcement came a day after the Swiss government said bars and restaurants would once again be closed across the country from Tuesday for at least a month.
"The number of infections is very high and is continuing to rise. Hospitals and healthcare workers have been under extreme pressure for weeks and the festive period increases the risk of an even more rapid rise in cases," it said.
Achieving sufficient immunity will take up to a year, and six months even "in the best case", said Virginie Masserey, the Swiss health ministry's vaccine strategy chief.
"It depends on how quickly people want to get vaccinated," she told a press conference.
Switzerland has secured around 15.8 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, in deals with three manufacturers.
It has signed contracts for around three million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, around 7.5 million doses of Moderna's vaccine, and around 5.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Two doses are required per person for all the three vaccines.
Pharma giants Sanofi and GSK said on July 29, 2020, that they have agreed to supply Britain with up to 60 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. The agreement covers a vaccine candidate developed by France's Sanofi in partnership with the UK's GSK and is subject to a "final contract."
This thread collects some of the major developments in the search for a vaccine to ease the new coronavirus pandemic. (Main photo by AFP/Joel Saget)
As negotiations towards a new pandemic treaty pick up pace, observers warn of watered-down efforts to ensure equitable access to the medical products needed to battle future Covid-like threats.
Shaken by the pandemic, the World Health Organization's 194 member states are negotiating an international accord aimed at ensuring countries are better equipped to deal with the next catastrophe, or even prevent it altogether.
The process is still in the early stages, with the aim of reaching an agreement by May 2024.
But critics warn that revisions being made to the preliminary negotiating text are weakening the language -- notably in a key area aimed at preventing the rampant inequity seen in access to vaccines and other medical products during the Covid pandemic.
"I think it is a real step backwards," Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, told AFP. — AFP
Africa's first mRNA vaccine hub is ceremonially launched on Thursday to acclaim from the UN's global health chief, who hailed it as a historic shift to help poor countries gain access to life-saving jabs.
The facility was set up in the South African city of Cape Town in 2021 on the back of the success of revolutionary anti-Covid vaccines introduced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
"This precious project... will bring a paradigm shift in addressing the serious problem we faced, the equity problem, during the pandemic, so (that) it's not repeated again," World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tells a media briefing to mark the inauguration. — AFP
China has approved its first locally developed messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine against Covid-19, its manufacturer said Wednesday, months after the relaxation of strict Covid-zero regulations sparked a surge in cases.
The vaccine, developed by CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd, has been approved for "emergency use" by Beijing's health regulator, the company said in a statement.
It showed high efficacy in a trial in which it was used as a booster shot for people who have been given other types of vaccines, the company added, without offering further details. — AFP
COVID-19 vaccine maker Novavax raises doubts about its ability to continue its business, announcing plans to cut spending after struggles in rolling out its coronavirus jab.
Shares of Novavax plummeted 25 percent in extended trading, after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates.
While the firm should have enough money to fund operations, the situation is "subject to significant uncertainty," it says in a statement. — AFP
The protection against Covid-19 from being previously infected lasts at least as long as that offered by vaccination, one of the largest studies conducted on the subject says.
Ten months after getting Covid, people still had an 88% lower risk of reinfection, hospitalisation and death, according to the study published in the Lancet journal.
That makes this natural immunity "at least as durable, if not more so" than two doses of Pfizer or Moderna's vaccines, the study says.
The authors nevertheless emphasized that their findings should not discourage vaccination, which remains the safest way to get immunity. — AFP
- Latest
- Trending
