Swiss voters OK referendum on COVID controls
Swiss voters on Sunday gave clear backing to legislation authorizing special COVID-19 certificates under which only people who have been vaccinated, recovered or tested negative can attend public events and gatherings.
Final results showed 62% of voters supporting the legislation, which is already in force. The referendum offered a rare bellwether of public opinion on the issue of government policy to fight the spread of coronavirus in Europe, which is currently the global epicenter of the pandemic.
The vote on the country’s “COVID-19 law,” which also has unlocked billions of Swiss francs in aid for workers and businesses hit by the pandemic, came as Switzerland faces a steep rise in infections.
The Swiss federal government, unlike others, hasn’t yet responded with new restrictions. Analysts said authorities didn’t want to stir up more opposition to its COVID-19 policies before they faced Sunday’s test at the ballot box — but that if Swiss voters gave a thumbs-up, the government may ratchet up its controls.
Of the country’s 26 cantons (states), only two — Schwyz and Appenzell Innerrhoden, both conservative rural regions in eastern Switzerland — voted against the legislation.
Turnout Sunday was 65.7%, an unusually high figure in a country that holds referendums several times a year.
On Tuesday, Swiss health authorities warned of a rising “fifth wave” on infections in the rich Alpine country, where vaccination rates are roughly in line with those in hard-hit neighbors Austria and Germany at about two-thirds of the population.
The seven-day average case count in Switzerland shot up to more than 5,200 per day from mid-October to midNovember, a more than fivefold increase. Austria, meanwhile, has imposed a national lockdown to fight the rising infections.
Nation resumes vaccine exports
The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker, has resumed exports of coronavirus vaccines to the U.N.-backed COVAX distribution program after halting most overseas sales in March.
The company was to have been COVAX’s main supplier, but an explosion of cases in India resulted in a cutoff of exports. At the time, Serum Institute had contracts to provide COVAX with 200 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, and unfinalized agreements to supply 350 million more. The suspension was a significant setback for global efforts to distribute vaccines equitably.
GAVI, the vaccine alliance which co-manages the COVAX program, said the company had provided just under 30 million doses to it.
New infections in India have now fallen to the lowest level in months, and the first new exports under the COVAX program, left Friday for Tajikistan, Serum Institute said. It added it expects exports to increase substantially in early
2022.
Although coronavirus restrictions have been lifted in India, the country, like others, is jittery after the detection of a new, worrisome variant in southern Africa. The federal government has asked states to scale up screening of travelers from some countries and the genetic sequencing of any detected infections.
Hospitals strained as infections rise
Germany’s health minister said he hopes that the sight of air force planes transferring patients across the country will act as a “wake-up call” to millions who are still holding out on getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
Health Minister Jens Spahn said there has been a welcome increase over the past week in the number of people getting their first shots, with 450,000 recorded. He put that down to pressure from Germany’s worsening coronavirus situation and to increasing requirements
for people to provide proof of vaccination or recent recovery to take part in many activities.
But it’s still not enough and “this figure of nearly 12 million unvaccinated adults is still far, far too high,” Spahn said. So far, 68.4% of the population of 83 million people is fully vaccinated, below the 75% minimum threshold eyed by the government. There are significant regional variations.
Hospitals in southern and eastern regions of Germany have warned they are running out of intensive care beds because of the large numbers of seriously ill COVID-19 patients. Germany is having to organize large-scale transfers of patients within the country for the first time since the outbreak began in early 2020, including with help from the military.
Germany has seen a relentless increase in coronavirus infections over recent weeks, with the infection rate hitting a new high every day. A new government is expected to take over in early December, and
the transition period has been blamed for paralyzing Germany’s response to the pandemic.
Medical students get holiday gift
For 956 students at one of the largest historically Black medical colleges, an unexpected gift of gratitude arrived in their bank accounts just in time for Thanksgiving.
The students from Meharry Medical College in Nashville have been pivotal in helping their city keep coronavirus testing sites staffed for the last 19 months — and, more recently, in helping run vaccination clinics.
That work inspired Dr. James Hildreth, Meharry’s president, to send each student $10,000 Wednesday.
The money comes from the $40 billion in federal relief funds earmarked for universities. Schools are required to spend at least half on emergency grants to students.