The Swiss government has announced it will donate up to 15 million doses of the Covid vaccine to other countries by mid-2022, having obtained a sufficient amount for Switzerland’s population of around 8.7 million.

This year, around 34 million doses of the vaccine will be available to Switzerland – 20 million during the first six months and 14 million in the second, the Cabinet added.

Almost all Covid restrictions have been eased in Switzerland as concerns over the Omicron variant overwhelming the health system faded, Reuters reports.

"The priority is for the donation of vaccines that are surplus to requirements to run via the multilateral mechanism of the COVAX Initiative," the government said in a statement.

In June last year, Switzerland donated four million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to other countries. Then in December, the delivery of a million doses of the Moderna vaccine was delayed in order for the COVAX Initiative to benefit directly from freed-up production capacity. The government statement added: “From the outset, as part of global efforts to manage the pandemic, Switzerland has been working to ensure that as many people as possible all over the world get access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines.”

In addition, the Swiss government said it would agree purchase guarantees with drug manufacturers to treat Sars-CoV-2, to enable people with immune deficiencies to access them. The government statement went on to say: “These medicines will come up for approval in 2022. The Federal Council has decided to agree purchase guarantees with the manufacturers so that these drugs can be rapidly procured and made available to the people affected.”