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EUROPE

COMPARE: Which countries are leading the race to vaccinate in Europe?

Germany and France both set new daily vaccination records this week. Here's how different countries in Europe compare.

COMPARE: Which countries are leading the race to vaccinate in Europe?
People queue outside a vaccination center on April 26, 2021. Photo. Lluis Gene/AFP

After a sluggish start, the pace of vaccination in the European countries covered by The Local’s network has picked up significantly this month, with Germany hitting a daily record 1.1m doses on Wednesday, France a daily record of 566,000 doses on Friday, and Spain now averaging over 300,000 doses a day, 

If you drag the date button at the bottom of the chart below back to the start of vaccinations on December 27th and then move it slowly forward to the current day, you can see clearly how Spain, Germany, and Austria have pushed ahead. 

You can also see how Denmark, the quickest European Union country off the mark in January and February, has lost its lead due to its decision to suspend the AstraZeneca jab on March 11th, and then on April 14th to discontinue its use completely. 

Denmark had also banked heavily on the Johnson&Johnson vaccine, committing to taking 8.2 million doses, making it particularly hard hit by the delay in deliveries of the vaccine.

If you look at the chart below showing total vaccine doses delivered, you can see clearly how the pace has been accelerating, with Germany, France, Italy and Spain each administering about twice as many doses in April as they did in March. 

France, the worst performer among the country’s covered by The Local in January and February, started improving in March, first overtaking Sweden, Belgium, and The Netherlands in terms of per capita doses administered, and then briefly overtaking Germany in early April. 

Until the spurt in vaccinations over the last few weeks, Germany has been steady but unspectacular, ranking in the middle of the countries covered by The Local in terms of the number of doses delivered. 

Denmark still leads in the share of its population that is fully vaccinated, thanks to its decision to keep a relatively short three-week gap between the first and second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines until April 16th, when the gap was extended to six weeks. 

Switzerland has also had a relatively short one-month gap between doses, with the country’s Covid-19 Task Force only recommending on April 21st that the gap be extended to six weeks. 

As a result, more than 11 percent of Denmark’s population is now vaccinated, with Switzerland not far behind. That’s nearly double the share achieved by Denmark’s neighbour, Norway. 

When it comes to the share of the population who have had at least one dose, however, the picture is almost reversed, underlining the impact of national priorities and vaccination strategies. 

The decision of Germany’s Permanent Vaccination Commission on March 4th to recommend extending the gap between the first and second AstraZeneca dose to a maximum of 12 weeks has paid dividends here, with more than a quarter of people in the country having had at least one dose. 

Norway and Sweden have had a six-week gap between doses for the Pfizer vaccine since March, with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health recommending this Friday that the gap be extended to 12 weeks for both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines.  

The chart below makes it clear that while the EU took control of vaccine purchasing for most of its member states, countries have different strategies once they receive the deliveries.

While France, Germany, Denmark and Austria began giving the vaccine to all vulnerable groups by the end of February, and Norway in March, Sweden and Spain have kept a tight focus on the elderly who are seen as most at risk. 

One of the factors that helped Denmark achieve its relatively rapid rollout at the start was the high trust in vaccines in the country, an advantage it shared with Norway, Germany and Sweden. 

According to a YouGov study commissioned by Imperial College (which provides the data to the chart below), at the time vaccinations began at the end of December, 53 percent of Danes said they would take a vaccine if given to them that week,  compared to just 19.9 percent of respondents from France. 

Vaccine scepticism among those not yet vaccinated has since then reduced in all 16 countries surveyed except for the United Kingdom (where the slight fall is probably due to a stable number of vaccine sceptics comprising a greater share of those yet to be inoculated). 

When Denmark suspended and then discontinued the AstraZeneca vaccine in mid-March the share of unvaccinated survey respondents who would have a dose that week fell from 72 percent to 65 percent, with smaller falls also seen in Italy, Spain, Germany and Norway. But confidence in the vaccine has since bounced back to 67 percent. 

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EUROPEAN UNION

Why any deal between Switzerland and EU lies in the hands of the Swiss

The newly resumed round of negotiations between Switzerland and the European Union is now underway. But even if agreements are signed, stamped, and sealed, this doesn’t automatically mean they will go into effect.

Why any deal between Switzerland and EU lies in the hands of the Swiss

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Swiss President Viola Amherd launched negotiations in Brussels on Monday on “a broad package of measures to deepen and expand the EU-Switzerland relationship”, the European Commission said in a statement. (Read more about what’s at stake, below).

“Today is the beginning of a new chapter in our relationship with Switzerland based on a renewed trust and engagement between partners and neighbours,” she added.

This is a positive development after Switzerland suddenly walked away from more than a decade of negotiations in May 2021 due to the EU’s refusal to budge on Swiss demands to exclude key issues relating to state aid, wage protections and freedom of movement. 

The move angered Brussels and strained the relationship between the two sides.

But after nearly three years of tiptoeing around each other, the two parties finally got back to business on Monday.

What does Bern hope to accomplish during the talks?

In a nutshell, these are some of the issues Switzerland will bring to the negotiating table:

Immigration

The majority (1.4 million)of foreign nationals living in — and still coming to — Switzerland are from EU states, so immigration is a hot-button topic.
Wage protection
“The objective of ensuring wage and working conditions by maintaining the current level of protection sustainably will be reaffirmed,” the government pointed out.

Electricity

Swiss government therefore wants to negotiate an agreement with the EU, in order to allow full access for Switzerland to the single market for electricity and “ensure cooperation in this sector with the EU in the future”.

Transport

In parallel with the opening  of international rail passenger transport, the Federal Council will seek to maintain Switzerland’s prerogative to allocate slots on its own territory.

“The controlled opening up of international rail transport must not affect the quality of public transport in Switzerland,” the government said. 

Swiss sovereignty

The government wants to ensure that Switzerland will always be able to decide autonomously whether or not it wishes to adopt European law.
Its direct-democracy system of referendums must also remain intact.
In the event of a dispute, Switzerland and the EU will be equally represented in an arbitration tribunal, which will have to decide.

READ ALSO: What is Switzerland’s deal with the EU?

If both sides agree on these, and other points that are being negtioted, when will new treaties come into effect?

It may take a while, but a better question to ask is: will these agreements be enforced at all?

That’s because when it comes to implementing new laws — regardless of whether they were hatched in Bern or in Brussels — the people will have the last, decisive, word.

Chalk it down to Switzerland’s famous, unique brand of grassroots (or direct) democracy.

Under this system, any new legislation to which any group of Swiss citizens opposes, will come to a referendum.

To do that on a federal level, opponents must collect 50,000 valid signatures within 100 days of the publication of the new legislation. The law will only come into force if it is accepted by a majority of the voters. (Only Swiss citizens over 18 can sign the petitions and vote in national referendums).

READ ALSO: How Switzerland’s direct democracy system works

Do Swiss citizens always vote against closer ties with the EU?

No.

In May 2000, for instance, 67.2 percent voted in favour of the first package of bilateral agreements with the European Union.

And in 2005, 56 percent of voters approved the extension of the agreement on the free movement of persons.

However, in terms of actually joining the EU, the voters have been overwhelmingly against this move.

In 1997 and 2001, more than 74 percent had rejected popular initiatives seeking EU membership.

What about the latest round of negotiations?

It is too early to say, but the opposition to any further links with Brussels is gaining momentum, especially among the right wing — historically a driving force against the EU.

The populist Swiss People’s Party (SVP) is speaking against “the EU submission treaty,” while its sister group, Pro Schweiz, has collected enough signatures to launch a vote on reinforcing Switzerland’s neutrality and, by extension, rejecting anything that smacks of cooperation with the European Union.

It is therefore certain that either or both groups will launch a referendum to stop the government from implementing any more pro-European policies.

This doesn’t mean however, that the Swiss, who are mostly a pragmatic lot, would reject the new agreements at the ballot box — since the majority had already accepted the treaties mentioned above.

Either way, Blick newspaper reported that “it is the Swiss people who will decide whether  the bilateral agreements between Switzerland and the European Union will be finalised.” 

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