The reason Switzerland rejected the coronary vaccine from Russia

Russian Ambassador to Switzerland told Swiss media that his country has tried to make their vaccine available for Switzerland. But the Ministry of Health reportedly did not take this seriously and a refusal to this statement is shown.

Ambassador Sergei Garmonin said he addressed the Federal Public Health Office (FOPH) twice on August 17th and December 22, 2020 to offer Russia's vaccine, called Sputnik V.

We again informed FOPH that the efficiency of the vaccine was greater than 90 percent, that its price was about ten dollars per box and that it could be preserved between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius”, Garmonin said. “We showed that we are willing to consider the possibility of a preliminary order for Switzerland”.

Berna has not responded to any of Russia's bids, Garmon said.

However, the drug authorization agency, Swiss, said Russia had never approached an offer to Switzerland, a charge Garmon denied.

The FOPH is now facing a wave of criticism over the lack of response to the offer. Health experts and politicians argue that federal authorities are wrong when they rule out a vaccine from Russia in favor of those produced in the West BioNtech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Curevac and Novavax.

When I brought in the possibility of using the Russian vaccine last summer, I received many negative” comments, Martin Bäumle from the Liberal Green Party said.

Another critic, Andreas Faller, a lawyer specialising in the health law, noted that in times of crisis, FOPH “is tasked with reviewing all vaccine offers”.

The FOPH's “dating is shocking”, Swiss People's Party adviser Theresa Schläpfer noted, adding that “gara for the vaccine is huge. Do not respond to an offer is disrespectful to Russia and the Swiss population”.