“I know from cities like Geneva, where you had to queue for over an hour last week,” said the president of the pharmacists’ association Pharmasuisse, Martine Ruggli, in an interview with the Sunday newspaper published in advance on Saturday.
Anyone who has not had a booster vaccination from the last four months when attending a party in a bar or club must be tested. The demand for Covid tests was almost twice as high in the past week as before, said the Vaudois.
According to Ruggli, it is not only the New Year’s Eve celebrations that are likely to generate high demand. «It is likely that many will be infected with Covid over the holidays, probably also with Omikron. That is why more and more people with symptoms will be tested. ” Then there are colds. “We therefore expect a tough time.”
Employees exhausted
According to the country’s top pharmacist, the cantons closed too many vaccination and test centers. “In retrospect you have to say: yes.” However, the highly contagious virus variant Omikron threw all plans overboard within just two to three weeks. This also applies to the booster vaccination.
Ruggli reported in an interview about exhausted employees in pharmacies. Many pharmacies would therefore refrain from offering vaccinations or tests. Customers are becoming “increasingly impatient and sometimes aggressive”. Not all pharmacists wanted to expect this from their employees. “I know a lot of cases where employees have quit because it was just too much for them.”
It also did not rule out closings of pharmacies. “We have a lot of respect for possible cases of illness among staff because of Omikron,” said Ruggli. If this further exacerbates the staff shortage, some pharmacies may have to close. (SDA)