University of Bern, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine
Language
English
Description
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, individuals adapted their patterns of social contact to avoid pathogen exposure and due to government restrictions that aimed to slow down disease transmission. Studying the changing social contact patterns during the pandemic can play an important role to improve future pandemic responses. Furthermore, a better understanding of COVID-19 vaccination uptake and attitudes towards vaccination in different age and socioeconomic groups can help inform vaccination strategies. CoMix is a social contact survey that follows households across Europe in real-time over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Switzerland, we conducted the CoMix study over 24 survey waves from January 2021 to May 2022. Across all survey waves and participants, the average number of reported contacts was 4.8 per day. The number of contacts were highest in the age group of 0-18 year olds and lowest in people who are 65 or older. The survey captured the vaccination uptake in the general population well and participants provided detailed insights into their reasons to get vaccinated and to not get vaccinated. The CoMix study provides the first detailed data on social contact patterns in Switzerland. The results from the study can be used to improve pandemic preparedness, parameterize mathematical models of infectious disease transmission, and design future vaccination strategies.
