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Today in Switzerland: A roundup of the latest news on Friday

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Today in Switzerland: A roundup of the latest news on Friday
General view on March 5, 2019 during a press day ahead of the Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

Find out what's going on today in Switzerland with The Local's short roundup of the news.

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Not much demand for Johnson & Johnson vaccines

Some cantons have started offering the vaccine manufactured by American pharma company Janssen, but officials report there are not many takers.

For instance, in Geneva, which has received 7,200 doses, 287 people have so far registered for the shot.

In Fribourg, 55 doses out of 720 in stock have been used, and in St. Gallen only 10 are spoken for, even though the canton has received 9,000 doses.

In all, Switzerland ordered 150,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, primarily as an alternative for allergic people who can’t take Moderna or Pfizer jabs.

READ MORE: Switzerland prepares to roll out Johnson and Johnson vaccine

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Geneva Motor Show is canceled — again

Originally planned for February 19th to 27th, 2022, the Geneva international Motor Show will not take place.

This major industry event and one of the biggest annual fairs in Geneva, was cancelled in  2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

Next year’s cancellation is attributed to “the difficult situation that the automotive sector is currently facing”, according to its director, Sandro Mesquita.

Specifically, he mentioned problems involving delivery of electronic components, slowing down the production of vehicles. “It  becomes difficult to present new models, while their availability cannot be assured”, Mesquita said.

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Does Moderna vaccine protect better against hospitalisation than Pfizer?

Slightly more people who received Pfizer's vaccine were admitted to a hospital in Switzerland than those who were inoculated with Moderna, according to data from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).

Since the beginning of the Swiss vaccination campaign in January 2021, 600 fully vaccinated people have been hospitalised i after contracting coronavirus.. Of these, 218 received the Pfizer's vaccine and 162 got  Moderna shots. For the remaining 220, the details are not indicated.

However, the effectiveness of both is higher than that of vaccines which don’t use the mRNA technology, FOPH said.

The epidemiological situation continues to improve

Between September 27th and October 3rd  — the most recent week for which FOPH has data —  the numbers of reported cases and hospitalisations in Switzerland fell from the previous week.

There are also fewer Covid patients in intensive care units and the number of deaths has dropped as well.

Here are FOPH’s numbers:

  • 7,625 cases were reports during that week, against 9,348 a week earlier.
  • Hospitals recorded 159 Covid patients, against 227 the previous week. Intensive care units treated  21 percent fewer people (from 265 to 230).
  • This drop is also reflected in deaths: 28 deaths were confirmed in 12 cantons, against 37 a week earlier.

Switzerland still the world’s top wealth manager

The country has retained its place as a world leader in a rapidly growing global wealth management market in 2020, a new study by Deloitte shows.

No other country has attracted so much international private capital. Switzerland also maintains its rank in terms of competitiveness. “Political stability has become an increasingly important factor throughout the pandemic,” the report notes.

Switzerland remains in the lead with $ 2.6 trillion in international assets, followed by the United Kingdom and the United States, despite the fact that Switzerland recorded growth of 7.3 percent, below the average rate.

READ MORE: EXPLAINED: Why is Switzerland so rich?

 

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