Switzerland today

Greetings from Bern!

As the vaccination rate in Switzerland stalls, discussions on the rights and obligations of the unvaccinated are getting louder and harsher. It’s one thing to not be able to dine in a restaurant but companies are now thinking of sacking unvaccinated employees. Where does one draw the line?

A little over half of the crew is vaccinated. Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi

Vaccine choice and consequences for employees and minors hog the news today.

• The biggest news story of the day is the warning from Swiss International Airlines that it could fire staff who are not vaccinated by the end of January. The vaccination rate within the company stands at just under 55%, which is slightly higher than that of Swiss populace. The Lufthansa-owned former national carrier reported an operating loss of almost CHF400 million in the first half of the year.
• Continuing on the subject of vaccination and personal choice, a group of people have handed in a petition with 59,000 signatures to the government asking for parental consent when it comes to the vaccination decision of minors. The petitioners are opposed to allowing children between the ages of 10-15 to decide the matter for themselves. Drawing parallels between legal requirements for parental consent for tattoos, purchase of mobile phones and even medical experiments, the petitioners want the same to be extend to vaccinations for the under 16s.
• Can a day go by without Swiss bankers making the news? I am afraid not. A Swiss banker alleged to have helped Americans avoid taxes has escaped from Spain where he was arrested at the behest of US authoritiesExternal link. He is now in Switzerland which does not extradite its bankers accused of aiding tax dodging.

The new appointment rubbed some the wrong way. Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi

Influential museum director takes the heat in Geneva for his vision of the museum of the future.

This summer we interviewed Marc-Olivier Wahler, the new head of Geneva’s art and history museum, and he shared with us his vision of the museum of the future. It now appears not everyone shares his vision. Around a hundred historians, teachers and other learned critics have signed and submitted a petitionExternal linkcalling for his ouster. They accuse him of overspending and being commercial-minded which he denies. Wahler’s two-year probation period with the museum ends October 31.