5 million doses of useless vaccine?

Curevac AG

Has Switzerland been left with 5 million doses of a useless vaccine? It may be too early to say.

The issue is the German drug maker, Curevac. The government pre-ordered the vaccine ahead of its authorization.  But initial results show the jab has only reached a 47% effectiveness – mainly because if its inability to handle the new variants. 

Those figures mean it will not be cleared to use at the moment. The company says there is a chance further analysis of the data may change the figure.

But the question remains what will happen to the doses? The Federal Health Office says contracts with private companies remain confidential.

It had been hoped the Curevac vaccine could start to be used next month – that now appears highly unlikely. 

The regulator Swissmedic says it’s keeping the issue under review. 
 

More from Bitesize News

  • Geneva could foot the G7 bill

    Geneva fears it will be left with the security bill from a G7 summit just across the border in Évian, according to 24 heures.

  • US NGO discovers Swiss child abuse cases

    Switzerland relies too heavily on an American NGO to detect child sexual abuse online, raising questions about the country's ability to protect children on its own.

  • French singer banned by Paleo

    The Paléo Festival in Nyon says it will no longer invite French singer Patrick Bruel, after a former volunteer accused him of inappropriate behaviour.

  • Cars going uninspected

    The cantons are struggling to keep up with mandatory vehicle inspections, leaving more than 550,000 checks overdue nationwide.

  • War may lead to rent rises

    Rents may rise again, says the bank Raiffeisen.

  • Not a heatwave, yet

    Summer has arrived, with temperatures climbing past 30 over the long weekend. Basel reached 31 and Sion hit 32.4, but MeteoSwiss, says this does not yet count as an official heatwave.

Download our app

  • Available on the App Store
  • Available on Google Play