Italy introduces compulsory corona vaccination for over 50-year-olds

Created: 01/06/2022Updated: 01/06/2022, 2:32 PM

From: Max Schäfer

An Italian policeman is vaccinated against the coronavirus.

(Archive photo) © Alessandra Tarantino / dpa

Italy is reacting to the high number of new infections and is introducing compulsory corona vaccination for people over 50 years of age.

Rome - Due to the current pandemic, Italy has introduced compulsory corona vaccination * for people over 50.

"We are stepping in particularly in the age groups that are more at risk of hospitalization in order to take the pressure off the clinics," said Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Wednesday evening (January 5th, 2022).

"The measures are intended to maintain the good functioning of the hospitals and at the same time keep schools and businesses open," Draghi said in his statement.

Italy: compulsory corona vaccination and other measures - government reacts to many new infections

The compulsory corona vaccination in Italy has also been expanded to include staff at universities. It was already in use in schools. The regulations come into force when they appear in the Official Journal. When that would be was initially unclear. In addition to the compulsory vaccination to protect against the coronavirus, the 2G rule at work also applies to those over 50. You must have been proven to have been vaccinated against Corona or have recovered from the disease in order to be able to go to work. The 2G rule will also be expanded in Italy * and will apply from January 10, 2022, among other things, in buses and trains, hotels and ski lifts.

For body-hugging services, such as hairdressers, the 3G rule applies in Italy.

A negative corona test is therefore sufficient for the visit.

Unvaccinated people in Italy also have to show a negative test when entering government offices, the post office, banks and shops.

Everyday shops and pharmacies are excluded.

Corona in Italy: Debate about how to deal with the Omikron variant in schools

In the past few days, the use of the Omikron variant in schools has also been discussed. From Monday (January 10th, 2022) the children and young people will go back to class. Prime Minister Draghi had repeatedly advocated avoiding distance learning. However, there are limitations. Primary school students: if there are two infections in a class, they have to go to homeschooling for ten days, in secondary schools distance learning is provided for three corona cases. If there are two infections, everyone who has not been boosted or who has recovered more than 120 days ago must go to the distance lesson.

With the corona vaccination for people over 50, Italy is responding to the sharp increase in the number of corona cases since the beginning of December 2021. On December 1, the seven-day incidence according to Johns Hopkins University was 143.1.

At the beginning of the year it reached a value of 924.4.

189,088 new infections were reported on January 6, 2022.

The incidence is 1493.5.

The vaccination rate is around 74 percent (as of January 6, 2022).

At the beginning of the year, the German Robert Koch Institute also classified Italy as a corona high-risk area.

(Max Schäfer with dpa) *