In the summer, Center Council of States Peter Hegglin (60) spent six days in the intensive care unit at the Zug Cantonal Hospital. He was unable to take in enough oxygen because the coronavirus attacked his lungs. “I would not have made it without additional oxygen supply,” said the 60-year-old at the time.
Now, four months later, he of all people is calling for the corona measures to be lifted. “If you put those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered together, we have a vaccination rate of over 80 percent – that’s enough to lift the measures.” He is not worried that the number of infections will skyrocket again with the low temperatures in winter. “The contamination of society has progressed so far that the hospitals will no longer be overloaded.”
Hegglin is annoyed by returnees from the Balkans
Other central parliamentarians such as Martin Candinas (41), Thomas Rechsteiner (49) and Alois Gmür (66) are of the opinion that the current corona situation no longer justifies the Federal Council’s measures. The extended certificate requirement is to be lifted. Party President Gerhard Pfister (59) wants according to the «Sunday newspaper » know nothing about it.
The certificate is controversial – and it is at the center of the vote on the Covid law on November 28th. Peter Hegglin still approved the law in the Council of States. In the aftermath, however, he was annoyed about the extension of the certificate requirement, he says. “Instead of quarantining those returning from the Balkans in the summer, the Swiss people were given the certificate,” he says. In Switzerland, the certificate requirement applies to all people aged 16 and over.
Unlike his party, Hegglin will not be actively involved in the Covid law. Whether he will vote yes or no at the ballot box is still open. “That depends on the Federal Council’s exit strategy.”
Hesitation about vaccination
Hegglin is also delaying the vaccination decision. After staying in the intensive care unit in the summer, he did not want to be vaccinated for the time being. At the time, he was convinced that his natural immunization protection would last a good six months. Now he thinks his certificate is valid until December 8th. “I will then think about a vaccination again.”
In the conversation, however, he is still very cautious. “I think it would make more sense if the validity of the certificate for those who have recovered would be extended to one year,” he says. He has already made this request politically.
However, he is not afraid of ending up in the intensive care unit again. “We have to accept that life involves certain risks.”