Covid cost the Swiss taxpayer SFr35 billion[1]Swiss finance minister sees pandemic-linked spending of 35 bln Swiss francs, making up 4.6% of Swiss GDP[2]GDP (current US$) – Switzerland. That’s not taking into account the cost to individual taxpayers in lost earnings, and businesses through lost revenue.
The SFr35 billion is the cost of the government’s response to the pandemic. The pandemic itself with resulted in 14,452 deaths in Switzerland[3]COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC.
By now, 97% of the population have developed antibodies against the virus either through vaccination or infection[4]Coronavirus: the situation in Switzerland. The Swiss no longer need vaccinations, and 18.6 million doses were disposed of, outstripping the 17 million administered[5]Swiss Vaccine Strategy Under Fire: More Doses Discarded Than Used.
Of the people who succumbed to the virus, 85% had at least one other co-morbidity[6]COVID-19 vaccination efficacy in Switzerland. The Swiss Covid strategy should have focused on this group from the start, as they are now doing[7]Coronavirus: the situation in Switzerland.
What is evident from these statistics is that the Swiss government adopted a defence that was far more costly than was necessary. While hindsight is a perfect science, we can reveal that we were in contact with the FOPH in the early stages of the pandemic, offering our technology to identify the people who were most susceptible to the virus, and advised them that these were the people who needed to be protected.
Shutting down entire sections of the economy, especially tourism, barring people from work, and paying government employees to stay at home was unnecessary. It cost the economy, and the recovery is not yet complete. In February 2022, before the war broke out in Ukraine, Switzerland’s inflation rate was already at 2.15%[8]Inflation Switzerland 2022. That rise is directly attributable to poorly directed restrictions put in place to beat Covid.
Proof that the approach was wrong, if any more is needed, is to look at what happened in China and Vietnam when they ended their draconian Covid lock-downs because of rising public protest. Without recourse to vaccinations, they reopened their economies. There was no significant increase in mortalities[9]COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC in either country.
The Swiss government was not alone in its adoption of its response, which mirrors the strategy adopted in medieval Europe during the great plague. Led by the USA, most western countries shut down their economies as they panicked in response to medical experts’ predictions of a global catastrophe.
Sweden stood alone in making an intelligent analysis of the threat and keeping their economy open[10]Did Sweden’s controversial COVID strategy pay off? In many ways it did – but it let the elderly down.
Of course Sweden is different in another way. It does not have a host of pharmaceutical giants benefitting from the sale of unnecessary vaccines.
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