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(Adds details, comment from Swiss health minister)
ZURICH, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Switzerland has reserved 16
million doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines, the government
said on Wednesday, announcing a new 3.2 million-dose reservation
with a World Health Organization-led programme and a tentative 3
million-dose pact with Pfizer and BioNTech.
Switzerland, which has 8.6 million people and hopes to start
vaccinating some time in the first half of 2021, had previously
reserved nearly 10 million doses of prospective vaccines from
Moderna and AstraZeneca and has now set aside
400 million Swiss francs ($435.92 million) for purchases.
Pfizer and BioNTech said on Monday their COVID-19 vaccine
was more than 90% effective based on initial trial results,
prompting governments to rush to secure a share. Data from
separate trials of Moderna's and AstraZeneca's candidates are
due later this year.
A Russian vaccine project on Wednesday also said that its
candidate's efficacy topped 90% in a small sampling of trial
participants.
Global health officials estimate about 60-70% of the
population must be inoculated against the new coronavirus to get
the pandemic under control. While the figure is four times the
number of Swiss who get an annual flu shot, Health Minister
Alain Berset said the situations aren't comparable, citing polls
he said show "a large percentage of the population is ready to
get a shot".
"We're confronted with a worldwide pandemic that has
inflicted massive damage on the economy and society," Berset
said at a news conference. "The situation in which we're living
in today isn't what we want."
Swiss coronavirus infections rose by 8,270 cases on
Wednesday, with confirmed cases in Switzerland and neighbouring
principality Liechtenstein increasing to 243,472 and the death
toll rising by 86 to 2,769, as some hospitals report their
intensive care units are full.
Switzerland will not require vaccinations but plans a
campaign to promote them.
($1 = 0.9176 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by John Miller and Silke Koltrowitz; editing by
Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi)
