Yes here's the news that Canada's approved the Pfizor-BioNtech vaccine for vaccination.

BBC News - Canada the latest country to approve the Pfizor-BioNtech vaccine

Simply go to the doctor and tell him to give you an allergy exemption. The vaccine can cause allergic shock in some cases!

While I am otherwise pro-vaccines when a *standard* vaccine approval test procedure has been carried out, especially in the case of new technologies and their long term effect, I think in this case I would feel safer waiting for vaccination until more information is available. Lockdowns and protective measures will likely be kept in place for a while regardless of vaccinations.

I am extremely happy about the decision to make the vaccine voluntary only.

Doubt there will be any more lockdown after the oldies are vaccinated.

It would be a pretty shit doctor who just handed out allergy exemptions because the patient told them to.

You dont know my doctor. And what happens when shit companies like quantas only take innoculated people. The rest are discriminated against!!!

Thankfully not, s/he is clearly not a very good one.

Gonna need an actual link for proof since the only reaction I've seen publically listed against the vaccine so far is a minor rash, which is far from the 'allergic shock' you're spouting.

Private companies can make rules as they see fit for their own staff's health and passengers. Don't want to get vaccinated? Then don't fly.

Actually private companies can't make rules for their own staff's health unless it is an area of health and safety they are responsible for, at least in Switzerland.

So that could cover protecting customers, or protecting staff themselves, but they would need to be very clear and specific and I think most companies will avoid this like the proverbial plague so they don't get caught in a liability trap.

More likely the governments will make rules in specific areas.

The vaccine will not be mandatory. According to Le News it will be free to the consumer (Cost shared among Federal; Cantonal governments and Health Insurance companies). Consumers might have a 5f participation charge.

But expect governments, including Switzerland, to soon impose a vaccine requirement on Visitors to their country. So travelling (outside Schengen) will become difficult without having had one. Airlines and other transport will likely require vaccines.

Not compulsory but you will have to be a hermit to avoid them without medical reasons.

I heard that Canada had bought five times as many doses as it needed to vaccinate it's entire population.

This sort of behaviour is why poorer countries cannot order the vaccine.

Canada is not the only guilty party.

Isn't that just because they didn't know who would actually be able to provide a vaccine, so they pre-ordered from multiple companies and probably have a cancellation clause depending on who gets there first?

Or maybe they have to pay, and then they should donate any spare to poorer countries.

Well, perhaps they don’t like people who cannot spell their name correctly and call them a shit company.

Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Services - QANTAS

You don’t have to buy their services if you don’t like their terms and conditions. They don’t have to accommodate you if you refuse to follow their terms and conditions. It’s your choice, and it is not discrimination.

Edited to add: It is much more likely that the government of Australia will require vaccines for all travellers to their country. And airlines have the obligation to deny boarding to any passenger that hasn’t met government requirements. The face big fines for bringing in inadmissible passengers.

It's currently not possible for almost all non-residents of Australia to visit the country at all and even for residents/citizens, a very strict 14-day quarantine applies. If vaccinations allow my family to travel there for a holiday this year, I'm all for it.

Any news when Switzerland will approve the vaccine ? or will we have to endure a nuclear winter of more
lockdowns, restrictions, quarantines and non-essential shop closures ?

Sometime in January. But getting a vaccine isn’t exactly a get out of jail free card. “Full” immunity is going to take a month (after the first jab and 10 days after the second).

If they can get 10,000 vaccines a day it will take a year and a quarter do do all 8 1/2 million of us. It probably won’t take that long, but ...

So yes, we are going to have to withstand a long winter, spring, and possibly summer and fall before this will be behind us.

Depressing? Yes, but it is better than the other option.

I’m fairly sure the bit in bold is just a brain fart on your part but it made me smile.

Over ordering the vaccine is a fairly shitty thing for Canada to do if true.

What is the difference between option 2 and 5? Not much, I'd say, so total is 50%, against 65% for defo.

To be fair, it's not just Canada. Most of the "western world" has over-ordered vaccines (working on a requirement of two doses per person). But as pointed out above, nobody knew at the time of ordering which vaccines, if any, would work, or even become available.

I am sure that Canada will not want to retain 4-5 times the number of vaccine doses than actually needed. They will either cancel some orders (with a "sorry, eh?"), or perhaps some of the vaccines will never make it to manufacturing anyway (if they fail testing and/or marketing approval). Or knowing Canadians as I do, they may well donate millions of doses to other countries.

Fixed now. Thanks.

I was wrong - it wasn't five doses per person but nine!

This was from Nature magazine.

Hopefully they'll redistribute the excess fairly. I hope these rich countries don't try and sell it on to poorer ones at a profit.