Covid-19: the Swiss approve the health pass law by referendum

Published on : 11/28/2021 – 3:16 PM

At a time when the new variant of SARS-CoV-2, Omicron, causes concern in the international community, the Swiss have, for their part, widely approved by referendum, Sunday, November 28, the law having made it possible to create a health pass, in the end of a tense campaign.

According to the first numerical projections of the polling institute gfs.bern, the law was accepted by 63%, with a margin of error of 3 points.

Demonstrations punctuated by violence

In view of these results, the police, on the alert, fear demonstrations during the day. A sign of the unusual tensions in this country, she raised a fence in front of the seat of government and parliament in Bern.

The campaign was marked by numerous demonstrations, sometimes banned and punctuated by violence, but far from scenes of riots such as those which took place in the Netherlands or the French West Indies.

But the rise of tensions in Switzerland, a country renowned for its culture of dialogue and compromise and where referendums are organized several times a year in a peaceful atmosphere, had the effect of an electric shock.

Many politicians, including the Minister of Health, Alain Berset, who for two years has come to embody the fight against Covid-19 in the Alpine country, have been threatened with death and are now placed under police protection.

Fifth wave

This vote comes as Switzerland, like other countries, has experienced an outbreak of infections since mid-October. But the government has so far refused to toughen national control measures, arguing that the occupancy of intensive care beds by Covid-19 patients has been relatively low to date (20%).

“The situation is currently under control,” Alain Berset said at a press conference on Wednesday, while calling on the cantons to take measures and the population to respect basic health precautions.

As the new Omicron variant spreads, the President of the Confederation, Guy Parmelin, has however launched a new call for vaccination in Sunday newspapers.

With a rate of fully vaccinated people of around 65%, Switzerland lags behind in vaccination coverage compared to other countries in Western Europe.

This is the second time in less than six months that the population has been called upon to vote on the Covid-19 law. In June, citizens supported it with 60% of the vote in a first referendum.

But the text having been modified to give more latitude to the authorities to fight the pandemic and allow the establishment of the Covid-19 certificate, the anti-pass had launched a second referendum.

The past creates a “health apartheid”, denounce the Friends of the Constitution, one of the groups behind the referendum.

All political movements, with the exception of the right-wing populist UDC, the country’s largest party, called for support for the law.

With AFP