Swiss to get Moderna vaccine in tranches until mid-year

ZURICH: Moderna will deliver 7.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Switzerland in batches in the months ahead, putting the country among the world leaders in inoculating its population, the head of Moderna's European business said.

"We are working at full speed to steadily expand our production capacities. If everything goes as planned, just under half the population could be treated with our vaccine by the summer," Dan Staner told the SonntagsBlick newspaper in an interview.

Staner said Switzerland would not get privileged treatment because it was the first country to chose Moderna as a supplier.

"Every country deserves equal treatment. We refrain from stockpiling vaccines and delivering them only when a country orders them. Every dose that is produced is delivered immediately, according to the contract," he said.

"People are suffering in the same way all over the world. In times like these no one deserves special treatment."

Swiss regulators have approved vaccines from Moderna and from Pfizer with partner BioNTech. They are still reviewing a vaccine from AstraZeneca.

Switzerland, with a population of 8.6 million, has ordered 15 million vaccine doses in total after setting aside 400 million Swiss francs ($449 million) for shots.