With new COVID cases in Switzerland seven times higher than they were in mid-October, Swiss voters have firmly backed the law behind the country’s COVID-19 pass in a referendum, after a tense campaign overshadowed by unprecedented levels of hostility, reports The Guardian.
Early results on Sunday (28 November) showed about two-thirds of voters supported the law, with market researchers GFS Bern projecting 63% backing. Results from 16 of the country’s 26 cantons showed 61.9% had voted in favour of the law, on a 64% turnout.
The law provides the legal basis for the COVID-19 certificate indicating that a person has been vaccinated or has recovered from the disease.
Opponents have said the certificate, which has been required since September for access to restaurants and other indoor spaces and activities, is creating an “apartheid” system. Michelle Cailler, a spokesperson for the Friends of the Constitution group, which opposed the law, said granting such powers to the government was “extremely dangerous for democracy”.
Some 67% of the Swiss population is fully immunised, with a further 2% having had the first of two doses. A Link Institute survey of 1,300 people, for SonntagsBlick newspaper, found that 53% were in favour of mandatory vaccination.
The Guardian article – Swiss voters back law behind Covid vaccine certificate (Open access)
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