Switzerland Destroys More Than 620 Thousand Moderna Vaccines, Why?

Photo by Ian Hutchinson on Unsplash

JAKARTA - Switzerland will destroy more than 620,000 Moderna COVID-19 vaccines that have expired. There, the demand for vaccines has decreased drastically.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Office of Public Health said the one that makes more than half a million vaccines had to be phased out because public demand had fallen sharply.

"Too many vaccines are being bought for Switzerland's needs," said a spokesman for the Federal Office of Public Health, confirming a report by broadcaster RTS, Friday 27 May.

"The aim is to protect the population in Switzerland at all times with sufficient quantities of the most effective vaccine available," the person explained.

Switzerland, which has already lifted a number of barriers to curb the spread of the disease, is getting 34 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for 2022 for a population of about 8.7 million.

In February Switzerland planned to donate up to 15 million surplus doses to poorer countries by the middle of the year. How many doses can actually be donated is still under discussion.

Switzerland said in March it had procured at least 14 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for 2023 from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, with the option to double orders.

It will also purchase up to 1 million doses from other manufacturers.

More than 70 percent of the population has at least one opportunity in Switzerland and small neighbor Liechtenstein. Authorities have reported nearly 3.7 million COVID-19 infections and 13,325 deaths.