The PolyClinic vaccination center in St. Moritz will close on Friday, March 11. Corona vaccinations will then be offered on a reduced basis, and the test offer will continue as before. Some normality is returning to PolyClinic's general practitioner and specialist practices in the spa.
Since December 2020, around 70,000 people have visited the PolyClinic St. Moritz AG vaccination and test center in the concert hall at the Kurpark. It will be closed in mid-March and the hall will give way to the new Klinik Gut building. This brings back to normal for the team and patients at the PolyClinic in the spa center. “The pandemic has put a heavy burden on our people, but also on our patients. From the outside world, it almost seemed as if the PolyClinic was exclusively testing and vaccinating,” says Dr. med. Markus Robustelli about the past one and a half years. Setting up and running the St. Moritz Vaccination and Test Center required tremendous effort. At the same time, however, the PolyClinic always maintained its usual range of general practitioner medicine and specialist consultations for vascular diseases, rheumatology, urology and surgery.
“An important cornerstone of measures against the pandemic”
Operating the vaccination center was a feat of strength for everyone involved. Up to 14 people per day were involved in tests, vaccinations, consultations and complex administration. “They have put themselves fully at the service of the population and have neglected leisure, holidays, family and friendships,” says Dr. Robustelli. “We would like to thank them sincerely for that. But our neighbors in the spa center and the patients in our practice have also shown a great deal of understanding and flexibility. A very big thank you goes to them too.”
“The municipality of St. Moritz has supported the test and vaccination center in the spa from day one. For St. Moritz, it became an important cornerstone of measures against the pandemic,” says Christian Jott Jenny, Mayor of St. Moritz. “I would like to thank those responsible and the many dozen employees who have done excellent work seven days a week over the past one and a half years. They all made a significant contribution to ensuring that locals and guests in St. Moritz always felt safe and well cared for.”
Up to 700 people per day
“There were days when we tested and vaccinated more than 700 people in 12 hours,” says Carmen Löpfe, CEO of PolyClinic. “Although the registrations and information about them are all available on the Internet, our telephone never stood still. Sometimes patients in our practice had trouble reaching us. We're very sorry about that.” Carmen Löpfe, Markus Robustelli and their team are looking forward to spring. “The past few weeks have made us very confident that we can get back to normal after the marathon. The demand for tests and vaccinations has fallen sharply and the peak of the Omicron wave has passed,” says Dr. Robustelli. “We are all pleased that we now have more time for the patients in our practice again.”
Vaccinations and tests are still possible
The vaccination center in the concert hall next to the spa will close its doors on Friday, March 11. However, the PolyClinic continues to offer corona tests and vaccinations against the coronavirus are also still possible: “Vaccination remains very important to protect against serious illnesses and for travel abroad. We will vaccinate with Moderna and Pfizer once a week,” says CEO Carmen Löpfe.
Markus Robustelli expects that a basic supply of vaccinations in the region must be maintained until at least autumn. It is difficult to estimate what it will look like from then on; experts expect COVID cases to rise again, albeit not at the level of the first COVID waves. “A second booster vaccination, at least for the vulnerable population, is likely in autumn,” says Markus Robustelli. PolyClinic St. Moritz will offer booster vaccinations in its GP practices, but will not operate another vaccination center. She has already informed the Graubünden Health Department of this.
contact:
PolyClinic St. Moritz AG
Dr. med. Markus Robustelli, Medical Director, President of the Board
Tel: 081 830 80 20
email: markus.robustelli@polyclinic.ch
This media release was prepared on behalf of PolyClinic St. Moritz AG and published on February 18, 2022.