Italy announces mandatory vaccination for over 50s

Italy will impose compulsory vaccination for those over 50 years of age.

The measure will come into effect from February 15 and will last until June 15 and its objective, in the words of Prime Minister Mario Draghi, is "to preserve the proper functioning of hospital structures and, at the same time, maintain schools and economic activities open ”.

Health authorities estimate that around 13% of the population of that age, which amounts to about three million people, has not received any dose of the vaccine.

The mandatory nature of the vaccine, one of the recommendations of the scientific committee that advises the Executive, will apply to all residents of Italy, including foreign citizens who have reached 50 years of age. “We want to push Italians who have not yet been vaccinated to do so. We intervene in particular on the ages that are most at risk of hospitalization to reduce pressures on hospitals and save lives, ”said Draghi. Government sources confirm to this newspaper that sanctions are provided for those who fail to comply with the obligation, such as suspension of employment for workers or a fine of 100 euros for those who do not work.

The measure has received the unanimous support of the Council of Ministers and will be approved by decree, since the country is still in a state of emergency. Details of how it will be implemented have yet to be explained. The debate on compulsory vaccination has been very lively for weeks in Europe, and the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stressed in early December that the Community Executive does not have the powers to introduce this obligation, but that it considered “understandable and appropriate to lead this discussion now ”. In Austria, the measure will also come into force next month. And the German government will take a law to Parliament to make vaccination compulsory also from February.

The prime minister, an economist, has always opted for vaccines as the best way to guarantee activity, he has opted for this measure, much discussed in the great government coalition, to stop the explosion of infections that omicron is causing in the country.

Draghi has always tried to prioritize the economic recovery of the country and has promoted the vaccination campaign with all his artillery.

In recent months, it has been approving more and more severe impositions in that direction to surround the undecided and, in practice, force them to get vaccinated.

Currently, access to leisure, such as bars, restaurants, cinemas or theaters, is limited only to those vaccinated or those who have overcome the infection.

In the transalpine country, some professionals, such as health workers, nursery, primary and secondary school teachers or the forces of order, are already obliged to be vaccinated or otherwise they are suspended from employment and salary.

As a novelty, university personnel should also be vaccinated, to make their conditions equal to workers in schools and institutes.

The prime minister already warned a week ago, in his press conference at the end of the year, that expanding the mandatory vaccination was on the table and that his pulse would not shake to approve it if necessary.

"We will do it in very fast times," he said then.

The Council of Ministers has also approved the expansion of the use of the COVID certificate, which proves that the carrier is vaccinated, has overcome the infection or has recently performed a coronavirus detection test with a negative result. This safe conduct, practically essential for daily life and to access work or use means of transport, will also be mandatory to go to hairdressers, beauty centers, customer service offices, banks and other commercial activities that the Executive must still specify in the coming days.

Another of the measures that the Council of Ministers has discussed is the imposition for all workers or to access stores and shopping centers of the reinforced health certificate, which is obtained only when they are vaccinated or have passed the disease. This norm has not finished finding the consensus between the forces of the governmental coalition. Parties such as the far-right Liga have pointed out on several occasions that this reinforced passport could be understood as a masked mandatory vaccination for all ages and have been against its use.

The Italian government will recommend teleworking in the coming weeks. And it will change the safety rules in schools. In nurseries, with a positive case, classes will be suspended for 10 days. In elementary school, with a positive case, mass screening tests will be carried out among students and with two or more cases, attendance will be suspended for 10 days. In high schools, on the other hand, with a positive in the class, the self-monitoring protocol will be activated and students will be asked to come with FFP2 masks; With two cases in the same class, quarantines are foreseen depending on the degree of vaccination of the classmates and with three positives, distance education will be activated for 10 days.

This Wednesday, Italy has registered 189,109 new coronavirus infections, a new record since the start of the pandemic, and 231 deaths, while the positivity rate rose to 17.28%, on Tuesday it was 13.9%.

A little more than a million tests have been carried out, a similar number to last week's daily, when the average number of cases was around 140,000 a day.

The Italian Federation of Health Centers and Hospitals (FIASO) has reported that hospitalizations for coronavirus have increased by 25.8% in the last week and admissions to intensive care units have grown by 13%.

It has also pointed out that 72% of hospitalized patients in serious condition in resuscitation rooms are not vaccinated.

Just over 20 million people are already vaccinated with the booster dose in Italy, around 65% of the population that can receive them. In addition, 89.07% of the population over 12 years of age are vaccinated with at least one dose and 85.99% with two, while 10% of children between 5 and 11 years old have received some dose, although only 0.01% have the complete pattern.

The health authorities of the transalpine country began on Wednesday to distribute among the regions molnupiravir, the first oral antiviral drug specifically authorized against the coronavirus and indicated for patients with mild or moderate symptoms, who are not hospitalized.

The scientific technical commission of the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) authorized the pill on December 22 and for its prescription the use of a monitoring record is planned that will be available digitally.