mer, Jan 25th 2023
Dr. Christoph Berger, President of Switzerland’s Vaccination Commission. Source: T. Egli / Tages-Anzeiger
Local news outlet Tages Anzeiger this week ran an interview with Dr. Christoph Berger, the President of Switzerland’s Vaccination Commission, who admitted, among other things, that the Covid-19 vaccine may produce “severe” reactions and that they are unnecessary for healthy, young people.
The news is surprising to many Swiss residents considering that the Vaccination Commission urged everyone in Switzerland – old, young, teens and children – to get vaccinated against Covid-19. By most metrics, their campaign was successful: Roughly 17 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Switzerland, with about 70% of the population having had one dose or more. But why push so hard for residents to get vaccinated if, in Berger’s own words, they are unnecessary for most of the population? Moreover, Berger says the vaccines do not protect against transmission and may produce serious side effects.
However, Berger himself stated clearly in an earlier (28 August 2021) Tages Anzeiger interview: “You have to expand the certificate requirement immediately … I make the vaccination recommendation, and it is clear that I stand behind it … In the USA, over 9 million adolescents in this age group have now been vaccinated. We now have enough data to be able to classify possible risks. Any safety concerns have not been confirmed. That is why we now clearly recommend vaccination.”
When asked by Tages Anzeiger this week about the rising number of Swiss patients who say they have suffered serious, and in some cases, permanent, side effects from the vaccine, Berger says:
"Yes, it is clear that there are undesirable vaccination symptoms, including severe ones. And yes, we have to take these people and their suffering seriously, and help them too.”
Berger points out that each case is unique and that, for now, there is “no clear diagnosis of post-vac syndrome.” Doctors are still researching the connection between vaccine and symptoms, Berger says. Perhaps the most shocking admission from Berger is that the “vaccination makes little difference” for “younger, healthier people…It protects neither against infection nor reliably against minor illnesses,” he said. This is, ostensibly, good news. But it raises the question why the commission pushed the entire population to get vaccinated?
“Our goal has always been to prevent as many serious diseases as possible through vaccination so that the healthcare system is not overburdened,” Berger says. “I don’t want to raise false expectations about the vaccination. Above all, we now know that we cannot influence transmission with vaccination.”
That fact – that the vaccines cannot prevent transmission – has also been making headlines in Switzerland lately. Not because it is new information, but because Swiss President Alain Berset falsely claimed that the vaccines could prevent transmission in 2021 and now a Swiss banker has filed a criminal lawsuit against him for making misleading statements to the public.
Swiss President Alain Berset is facing criminal charges for making false statements about the Covid vaccine.
In October 2021 Berset went onto a national television show during prime time viewing hours and announced that those who have the Covid-19 vaccine cannot spread the virus. At the time Berset was serving as the head of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). “With the certificate, you can show you are not contagious,” Berset said on the TV program. But, a FOPH study published nearly three months before Berset’s statement proved otherwise and Berset had those results.
The study was published August 3, 2021 and led by Virginie Masserey, head of infection control and vaccines at the FOPH. Masserey and her team of researchers found that the vaccine did not reduce the contagiousness of Covid-19, even if vaccinated people were not showing Covid-19 symptoms.
Why would Berset make such false statement? He made the claim just days before the Swiss population voted on whether to extend the use of the Certificat Mobile Covid; a controversial “pass” that allowed on vaccinated residents in and out of certain restaurants, shops and other public places. Unsurprisingly, Switzerland voted in favor of keeping the pass and it remained in place through mid-February of 2022.
Days after Berset’s statement, Masserey announced she was resigning from the FOPH.
About 70% of Switzerland has had at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Dr. Berger says he believes that Covid will remain with us in seasonal waves, like the flu. And that it will only pose a threat to vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and immunocompromised.
“After two years it is clear that the benefit of the vaccination far outweighs the risk. This applies to the entire population, but of course it looks different for individuals affected,” Berger says. “Every person has to recognize their risk and decide for themselves.”
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