The medical regulator in Switzerland forecasts giving the go ahead for the third Covid vaccine within weeks.

Amid mounting fears of a rising number of coronavirus infections and fatalities amongst vaccinated people, Swissmedic's head of regulatory affairs Claus Bolte said investigations are still underway in regard to the need for the booster shot.

Bolte said approval could be granted in just a matter of weeks "if the relevant companies cooperate”. The timing of the approval however depends on how long it takes firms to “answer our questions in such a way that we can also extend the approval”. A time schedule has not been given as yet for the approval of a third shot.

Following the announcement, president of the Association of Swiss Cantonal Physicians, Rudolf Hauri said although he hopes approval will be granted soon, authorities should not be pressured into doing so too quickly, and should "decide only on the basis of the available data and facts”.

Whereas the president of the Federal Commission for Vaccinations, Christoph Berger said Switzerland’s general population “certainly doesn’t need a booster this year.”

There has been an increasing number of so-called “breakthrough” infections in the country, as well as a rise in fatalities of individuals who had been vaccinated, says a Swiss Info report.

The Federal Office of Public Health reported that the breakthrough rate is three times as high for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine than that of Moderna. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was the first to be given in Switzerland at the end of last year.

Since the beginning of September, around 40 fully vaccinated individuals with the Pfizer jab and 12 with the Moderna have died in Switzerland. Over the same time period, 144 unvaccinated individuals died of Covid.

Overall, there have been over 10,000 fatalities in Switzerland in connection with coronavirus.