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VACCINATIONS

Coronavirus: This tool shows when you will get vaccinated in Switzerland

A new tool using official information from Swiss health authorities lets you see how long you’ll be waiting until you get the jab. At current rates, most of the general public us won’t be vaccinated until 2022.

Published: 16 March 2021 19:18 CET
Updated: 26 March 2021 13:14 CET
How long must I wait to be vaccinated?
Photo: THOMAS KIENZLE / AFP

From health authorities to members of the general public, getting a precise date on when you will be vaccinated seems almost impossible. 

While the Swiss government has promised everyone will be vaccinated by July, this date seems more and more unlikely the more time that passes. 

A new tool developed to forecast when people will be vaccinated depending on personal characteristics such as age and health status has shed some light on when Swiss residents will get their jab. 

And unfortunately for most of us, at current vaccination rates the news isn’t good. 

What is the tool?

The tool has been developed for the Swiss vaccination system by a team from the University of Vienna. 

The team, made up of researchers Bogna Szyk, Philip Maus and Salam Moubarak, developed a tool to see how long vaccination would take in the United Kingdom. 

15 million hits later, and they’ve tailored it to several countries including Switzerland. 

“It all started when we launched such a computer for Great Britain in December,” said Szyk. 

“Since then we have had 15 million visitors to the website. That showed us how important this topic is for everyone.”

How does it work?

The tool feeds in all the official information provided by the Swiss government about vaccine predictions, priorities and the predicted rollout. 

You feed in information about your health status, job, age and other personal characteristics. 

By doing this, the tool can provide an accurate date on which you’re likely to get vaccinated – while also showing you your place in the queue. 

In Switzerland, the tool has two options. One lets you see your date at the government’s predicted vaccination rollout – and the other is based on current figures. 

“We make two different invoices for Switzerland,” Szyk told Swiss news outlet 20 Minutes. 

“On the one hand, you can see how long it would take before a person can be vaccinated according to the FOPH vaccination schedule. Secondly, it shows how long it would go with the current vaccination rate.”

What is the difference between the two? 

The difference is unfortunately huge. Using government predictions, a person in their 20s with no adverse health ailments could expect a vaccination between May 5th and June 24th (first dose). 

At the current pace however, the first dose could arrive as late as April 4th, 2022 – more than a year from now. 

According to the tool, the 36 year old editor of The Local Switzerland will be vaccinated earliest in September – and as late as April 2022 – according to current rates.

Is it only for Switzerland?

The developers have also built in the underlying data of 30 other countries so that you can see a comparison. 

Other functionality is possible – including how many lives you can save by staying at home or wearing a mask. 

The tool is available at the following link in German and in French.

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Published: 23 December 2022 10:53 CET
Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

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People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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