Switzerland documents five cases of British virus variant, two of South African variant

ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland has documented five cases of a variant coronavirus from Britain and two cases of a South African variant, an official with the Swiss health ministry said on Tuesday, adding that it predicted that more cases of these faster-spreading mutations would emerge.

Patrick Mathys, head of the crisis management section of the Ministry of Health, also said that Switzerland’s supply of COVID-19 vaccines will be limited until more vaccines are approved by the national regulator, possibly next year.

Switzerland is the latest country to record cases of variants, as country after country reports similar infections, prompting some countries to ban travel to Britain and South Africa over fears that a more virulent virus could can exacerbate health care systems short.

“So far, there is no evidence that these strains are spreading in large numbers in Switzerland,” Mathys said of the variants. “But it would be an illusion to think that these infections, which have been confirmed in the laboratory, are the only ones that exist in Switzerland. We should expect to find more, and it is likely that there has already been transmission.

One of the cases detected in Switzerland is a resident of neighboring France, Mathys said.

Switzerland has recorded 4,197 new infections since Monday, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 442,481, or more than 5% of the population.

Another 131 people have died, bringing the number of deaths from COVID-19 to 6,909.

Switzerland has so far received 107,000 doses of vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, and is targeting injections on older nursing home residents and medical workers.

The country expects to receive 250,000 monthly doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, but increasing shipments beyond that depends on approval of additional vaccines from Moderna and AstraZeneca currently under review.

“We have to be happy with what we have, for now,” Mathys said. “We can’t make magical snapshots out of thin air.”