How the Federal Council wants to be better prepared for the next pandemic

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• The partial revision of the Epidemics Act is based on experience from the Covid-19 pandemic and aims to improve prevention and coordination.
• Around a third of the approximately 17,000 comments were clearly or overwhelmingly opposed to the draft.
• Once it has been revised, the bill will be submitted to Parliament, which is due to debate it in 2025.

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Clearer responsibilities of the federal government and cantons, improved monitoring and supply of medical goods, legal basis for any economic aid: The Federal Council wants to use these and other instruments to prepare Switzerland for future pandemics.

The dispatch on the revision of the Epidemics Act was adopted by the national government on Wednesday. The bill will bring improvements in dealing with health crises, it wrote. It is thinking of epidemics and pandemics, but also of dealing with the increasing number of antibiotic resistances. Now the ball is in Parliament's court.

According to the Federal Council, the reform will clarify the distribution of responsibilities at all levels of government. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that adjustments are needed to improve prevention and the management of future threats to public health, it said.

Clearer allocation of responsibilities

Among other things, the escalation model with normal, special and extraordinary situations is to be adapted. In the normal situation, the Federal Council should now be able to order measures on public transport in the event of a particular threat. This could, for example, be a mask-wearing obligation.

The special situation should be formally determined by the national government itself after consulting the cantons and the relevant parliamentary committees. At the same time, it should make the necessary decisions regarding strategy and organization to combat the threat. The cantons should remain primarily responsible for imposing restrictions in the event of a crisis, such as banning events.

In an extraordinary situation - the third and highest level - the Federal Council should be able to order measures under emergency law. The Confederation and cantons should also be obliged to prepare for health emergencies, in particular with crisis plans such as the national pandemic plan.

Status quo for vaccination rules

The bill stipulates that the cantons must facilitate low-threshold access to vaccinations, particularly in pharmacies. The mandatory vaccination requirement remains unchanged. Vaccination without the consent of the person concerned is not possible today, nor will it be in future.

The bill also stipulates that the Federal Council can have important medical goods produced itself if the cantons or private individuals are unable to do so. These include vaccines, hygiene and respiratory masks, syringes and protective equipment. The federal government should also be able to cover the costs of vaccines, tests and medicines in the event of future pandemics.

If the measures have a significant impact on companies' turnover and there is a risk of a severe recession in the economy as a whole, the Federal Council should be able to provide repayable liquidity assistance to support companies.