As of 10/10/2022, another Covid-19 booster vaccine is available. The FOPH and the Federal Vaccination Commission (EKIF) recommend booster vaccination primarily to those at particular risk and to health professionals. The cantons are responsible for the implementation. The costs for the booster vaccination are covered by the federal government.
(red) Currently, both the number of reported cases with SARS-CoV-2 infections and the proportion of positive tests are increasing significantly. This trend is also observed in national wastewater monitoring, where the measured viral load in wastewater is increasing. Fortunately, the proportion of ICU beds occupied by Covid 19 patients and reported deaths remain at very low levels. However, the incidence of infection is expected to continue to increase.
On Monday, October 10, 2022, the adjusted Covid 19 vaccine recommendations went into effect. Another booster vaccination can help reduce the number of severe illnesses and thus overload the health care system in the fall and winter. The vaccination recommendation is aimed primarily at persons at particular risk, i.e. persons over 65 years of age and those with an increased individual health risk, for example due to a specific previous illness or pregnancy. These groups have the highest risk of developing severe covid-19. With a booster vaccination, they improve their individual protection against a severe course of the disease, at least temporarily. The recommendation applies secondarily to persons between the ages of 16 and 64 years without risk factors who are involved in acute and long-term care or who provide professional or personal care to persons who are particularly at risk. Booster vaccination offers these individuals some protection against infection with disease and may also reduce work absenteeism to some degree.
A general recommendation also exists for all other individuals aged 16 to 64 years with no risk factors. For them, a booster vaccination makes sense after individual consideration and decision if they want to reduce the risk of infection or a rare severe course. However, individuals without risk factors are at low risk for severe disease in the fall of 2022, unlike at the beginning of the pandemic. Children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 15 years are not recommended to receive a booster vaccination in the fall of 2022 in the current situation because their risk of severe Covid 19 disease is very low. All vaccinations recommended by BAG and EKIF are free of charge for the vaccinated.
Source: www.bag.admin.ch/bag/de/home/das-bag/aktuell/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-90601.html (last accessed on 22.10.2022)
InFo ONCOLOGY & HEMATOLOGY 2022; 10(5): 37.
