Italy is currently facing a political and social conflict on account of the mandatory vaccination certificate. Anti-vaccine movements, supported by some sectors of far-right parties, have promoted violent mobilizations against the necessary safe-conduct, now also for public transport, restaurants and, soon, also to go to work. The prime minister, Mario Draghi, has come out on Thursday at a press conference and has charged against these groups. In addition, he has assured that Italy will study forcing its population to be vaccinated when the situation allows it, a step that to date has not taken any of the great western democracies.
The original idea of the green certificate - that's what the vaccination passport is called - was precisely to avoid imposing the obligation to vaccinate the entire population. It was intended to limit public life so much that citizens would by force choose the route of immunization. In this way, problems of a legal nature and social confrontations were also avoided. However, the political debate that has arisen has made the Executive think that it may be advisable to act more directly and demand vaccination from everyone. Draghi, asked about it and about the arrival of the third dose at the press conference after the Council of Ministers, said: "I answer with a yes to both questions." Sources from Palacio Chigi qualify this newspaper that will depend on the evolution of the criteria of the European Medicines Agency and on how the vaccination campaign prospers.In case of introducing the obligation, they point out, the current green certificate would be suppressed.
The third dose, Draghi explained, will also begin to inoculate the population shortly. Something that the Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, has confirmed. “Right now there is a debate that will lead to the approval of the inoculation of the third dose. I think it will be at the end of this month, it will start with people who have a more fragile immune response ”, said Speranza.
The prime minister added that the horizon to reach 80% of vaccinated has also been set in September.
“The vaccination campaign continues and by the end of this month we will have 80% of the population (over 12 years old) vaccinated.
Today we have already reached 70%.
I am sure we will reach that goal by the end of the month.
This is a relief for the economic recovery and for the students to return to the classroom ”, assured Draghi.
The prime minister stressed that ending distance education with a safe return to the classroom is a priority for the Government and has celebrated that "91.5% of teachers have received at least one dose of vaccines."
Police officers ask for the green certificate to access transport between regions this Wednesday in Turin.
MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP
The prime minister also insisted that the population should be vaccinated "because it is an act of individual protection and solidarity with others", and has shown his support for journalists, doctors and politicians attacked in recent days by groups that reject vaccines. "I want to express my full solidarity with those who have been attacked by vaccine opponents, a particularly heinous and cowardly violence when it is exercised against those who report and those who are on the front line to combat the pandemic." Last Wednesday, the first day that the rule that requires displaying the green certificate to use public transport between regions came into force, some members of these groups tried to block the entrances to the railway stations without any success.
Disputes over the green certificate also reached the heart of the coalition government this week. La Liga, the party led by Matteo Salvini, began to sow doubts about its legitimacy and the possibility of withdrawing its support. Draghi, however, believes that the Executive remains united. “I do not see the end of the Government. I still see a coalition. There are different political, cultural, personal and professional options in this majority. The bulk of its members still agree. I don't see any disaster on the horizon ”, he concluded.
