COVID-⁠19 Switzerland

The chart shows the development over time of reported laboratory-⁠confirmed deaths by vaccination status in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, broken down by vaccine.
The data shown here are based on information supplied to us by doctors and hospitals as part of the reporting obligation. They do not allow a formal comparison of the efficacy of vaccines. Interpretation of these data is limited by many factors, including the integration period of the respective vaccines in the vaccination strategy, vaccination coverage in the various specific target groups, and the predominance of a virus variant at a given time.

Three vaccines for the prevention of COVID-⁠19 are currently authorised for use in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. According to the vaccination recommendation of the FOPH/NITAG vaccination recommendation, to have full vaccine protection, two doses of the Moderna vaccine (Spikevax®) or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (Comirnaty®) are required, or one dose following a documented recent SARS-⁠CoV-⁠2 infection. For Johnson & Johnson (Covid-⁠19 Vaccine Janssen®), a single dose of vaccine is required to be deemed fully vaccinated. The efficacy of the vaccines available in Switzerland is very high. They provide effective protection against symptomatic infection, in particular severe forms of the disease, and they reduce the risk of transmission. However, this does not completely rule out the possibility of vaccinated people being infected, even after two vaccine doses as no vaccine provides 100 percent protection.

We have been collecting data on vaccination status since the end of January 2021. It is based on information that doctors and hospitals deliver to us as part of the reporting requirement. For hospitalisations and deaths in connection with a laboratory-⁠confirmed SARS-⁠CoV-⁠2 infection, they also transmit the vaccination status in addition to the clinical information.

In terms of the number of laboratory-⁠confirmed cases despite vaccination we assume that the real figure is much higher than the reported figures on hospitalisations and deaths. This is because vaccinated people have no or only mild symptoms, and are less likely to consult a doctor, or go to a test centre or pharmacy. For people tested in test centres or pharmacies, we only receive the report on the test result. However, the report does not contain any information on vaccination status. Vaccination status is only listed in a clinical report that is mainly sent by doctors and hospitals.

The information on incidence is per 100,000 population with the corresponding vaccination status of "fully vaccinated", "partially vaccinated" and "not vaccinated".

Please note when evaluating the cases by vaccination status that according to the vaccination strategy, older people and those at especially high risk were vaccinated earlier.