How the federal government is hiding the fees for the vaccination week

In the fall of 2021, the Federal Council approved 96,2 million francs so that Switzerland could spend a week persuading each other to get vaccinated. In the end, there were just over 35,000 first-time vaccinations, a performance in Lausanne in front of 50 spectators, and a list of fees totaling 614,250 francs for eleven musicians, the individual amounts of which the federal government has redacted to this day. The national vaccination week was never a public health measure. It was a feeding trough, and those who gorged themselves on it are now back on every festival stage as if nothing had happened.

96 million for a week of good cheer

On October 13, 2021, the Federal Council approved its vaccination campaign in three parts: a national vaccination week from November 8 to 14, additional mobile vaccination units and personal consultation services, with a budget of 96,2 million Swiss francs. The originally planned 50-franc vouchers for successful referrals within one's social circle failed during the consultation process because even the cantons found the idea of ​​paid neighborhood denunciation too obvious. The federal government touted the sum as a bargain, since the mandatory tests were supposedly costing 50 million francs per week at the time. They essentially weighed one coercive measure against another and called the result an investment.

The cantons, which were supposed to spend the money, proved less eager than hoped. According to offers seen by SonntagsBlick , they had only drawn down just under 18 million from the fund by the beginning of November. After the week, project manager Michael Beer put the federal government's costs at a minimum of 27 million , of which 20 million were for contracts with the cantons and 7 million for its own promotional activities. He added that the total could still rise. Anyone who has seen the final bill is encouraged to get in touch.

Parasites with a guitar

The highlight of the week was the information and concert tour "Back on Tour" through Thun, Lausanne, Sion, St. Gallen, and Lucerne, featuring Stefanie Heinzmann, Danitsa, Stress, Dabu, and Kunz, as well as guests Baschi, Anna Rossinelli, and Sophie Hunger, according to the Conference of Cantonal Health Directors . 2,5 million Swiss francs were budgeted for the five evenings. The federal government declined to disclose how much the artists received, stating that it was standard market compensation and that they were protecting the privacy of those involved. Privacy when it comes to taxpayers' money—that's a new legal concept.

Only a request under the Freedom of Information Act compelled the Federal Office to release the budget statement. According to Blick, it shows 614 francs for the eleven musicians and their bands, covering rehearsals, performances, expenses, and testimonial and management fees. The individual fees are redacted. A state that requires its citizens to show proof of vaccination at restaurant entrances finds it unacceptable that these same citizens learn what it paid its pop singers for showing their own vaccinations. The fact that the federal government paid around 250 francs per attendee of its promotional tour was already verifiable at the time.

Sold out and yet empty

The tickets were free and sold out within hours. Then the audience stayed home. In Lausanne, the organizer spoke of 105 admissions, RTS cameras counted around 50 people in front of the stage, and in Sion, 185 people attended . According to dpa, critics of the measures had arranged in chat groups to obtain tickets without attending, and the federal government responded by opening a box office for the last two evenings. A sold-out concert without people is the most honest illustration of this campaign: everything was paid for, everything was organized, and nobody wanted it.

Stefanie Heinzmann told the Tages-Anzeiger that she would like to embrace the saboteurs, that she had already performed for audiences of seven. That's honorable. Except that she presumably didn't perform for seven people with taxpayers' money. They took the money, sang the songs, and declared the empty space in front of the stage a matter of freedom for others.

The bill at the end of the week

According to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), 104,689 doses were administered during the vaccination week , compared to 76,108 the previous week. CH Media's analysis of the FOPH figures revealed 4434 more first-time vaccinations than the week before, meaning over 4000 Swiss francs were spent per additional injection. In the cantons of Vaud, Obwalden, and Basel-Landschaft, even fewer vaccinations were given than before; according to Blick , the vaccination boat operated by the two Basel cantons received only ten first-time vaccinations. Following the first concert in Thun, 25 people were vaccinated. The federal government emphasized that it had not set a quantitative target. Without a target, one cannot miss one.

The federal government's counter-calculation is that 150 vaccinations prevent one admission to intensive care, meaning 233 out of 35,000 initial vaccinations. This calculation assumes that each of these individuals also attends the second dose and would never have come without the concert. According to Blick, the same vaccination week resulted in those over 65 having to wait longer for their booster shots. Initial vaccinations were bought with free concerts for young people, while the at-risk group was left waiting in line – entirely in keeping with the style of the very authorities who dictated regulations to event organizers and themselves invited them to cake and injections . Protecting the elderly was the argument; maximizing agency revenue was the real agenda.

Who sucked whom dry here?

That autumn, the unvaccinated were the nation's parasite, the freeloader on the healthcare system, the justification for every measure. The vaccination week reveals who was truly living off the state's coffers: a concert agency, an advertising campaign featuring 80 celebrities, eleven musicians with management fees, and a project manager who quantified the costs with the word "at least." The parasites weren't in the audience; they were on stage, backstage, and in the office that blacked out the fees. The government bought a week of approval for millions, got 50 spectators in a venue designed for 500, and called it "Together out of the pandemic." Those who paid the bill weren't even allowed to know what they were paying for. And the band kept playing as long as the money kept flowing!