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HEALTH

Who is in Italy’s Covid-19 vaccine priority groups?

The elderly, people with certain health problems and key workers are among those next in line for a Covid-19 vaccination in Italy. Here are the details.

Published: 9 February 2021 17:14 CET
Updated: 15 February 2021 10:11 CET
Who is in Italy's Covid-19 vaccine priority groups?
The elderly, people with certain health problems, and key workers are among Italy's vaccine priority groups. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

The Italian Health Ministry overhauled its vaccination plan last week after regulators advised that the AstraZeneca vaccine, which began arriving in Italy a few days ago, should preferably be used on adults under 55.

As a result, health services will use the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines on the elderly and people with health problems, while offering shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine to younger, healthier key workers outside healthcare weeks earlier than planned. Most health workers, as well as nursing home staff and residents, already got their jabs in the first five weeks of Italy's vaccination campaign.

READ ALSO: Italy to start vaccinating over-55s and key workers this month under updated plan

While that means as many as 24 million people in Italy could potentially join the queue for a jab, the order they'll get one in depends on how vulnerable they are to serious illness, and how high the risk they'll be exposed. 

Now the Health Ministry has released an updated version of its list of priority groups. They are as follows:

  • People aged 80+

The top priority remains people over 80, who in some regions of Italy began getting their shots this week.

Estimated total: around 4.4 million people.

  • Category 1: people at very high risk of becoming severely ill with Covid-19, aged 16 up

This category includes people with any of the following conditions: respiratory illness such as pulmonary fibrosis; severe cardiovascular disease; neurological disabilities or diseases such as multiple sclerosis; diabetes; cystic fibrosis; kidney failure; autoimmune diseases; liver disease; strokes and cerebrovascular disease; cancer (including patients who finished treatment less than six months ago); Down's syndrome; organ or bone marrow transplants (including patients on the wait list); severe obesity. 

In some cases, carers are also eligible for vaccination.

Estimated total: around 2.1 million people.

  • Category 2: people aged 75 to 79

This category includes everyone in this age group who doesn't have one of the health problems above.

Estimated total: around 2.6 million people.

  • Category 3: people aged 70 to 74

This category includes everyone in this age group who doesn't have one of the health problems above.

Estimated total: around 3.3 million people.

  • Category 4: people aged 16 to 69 at a higher risk of illness from Covid-19

This category includes people with less severe forms of certain conditions in Category 1, as well as some others: respiratory illness; cardiovascular disease; neurological diseases or disabilities; diabetes; HIV; kidney disease; arterial hypertension; autoimmune diseases; liver disease; cerebrovascular disease; organ or bone marrow transplants.

Estimated total: around 5.8 million people.

  • Category 5: people aged 55 to 69

This category includes everyone in this age group who doesn't have one of the health problems above.

Estimated total: around 11.9 million people.

  • Category 6: people aged 16 to 54

This category includes everyone in this age group who doesn't have one of the health problems above.

But within Category 6, the following groups will be given priority: teachers, lecturers and other staff at schools and universities; members of the armed forces, police and fire fighters; prisoners, wardens and other prison staff; people living in religious or other shared communities; other unspecified “key services”.

Heathy adults who aren't in any of those groups will be at the very back of the line for vaccination.

Estimated total: around 29 million people.

CHARTS: How many people has Italy vaccinated so far?


Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

Because over-80s and Categories 1-5 will receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines and Category 6 will get the AstraZeneca version, young, healthy adults who work in a key sector could find themselves bumped towards the front of the queue.

More than 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are due to arrive in Italy in the first three months of 2021 and are currently earmarked for young and healthy essential workers.

Under the revised plan, Italy's new targets are to administer some 2 million doses in total in February – the same number delivered in the first five weeks of the programme so far – climbing to 4 million in March and 8 million in April.

Its latest delivery estimates count on receiving 14.5 million doses of all vaccines together in quarter one, rising to 64.5 million in quarter two, and 68 million in quarter three.

Member comments

  1. The article addresses 75-79 year olds but no one older…and my friends are in their 80s. Can you please explain.
    Thank you

  2. Over 80s remain the top priority group in Italy, ahead of the other categories. We’ve updated the article to clarify.

  3. Janet at The Local – 16 Feb 2021
    I am in the 75 to 79 group. I am an expat living in Florence. Where do I go to get the Covid-19 vaccination jab in Florence?

  4. My husband and I moved to Italy just as the lockdown came in to place. We took up accommodation and residency in December 2020. We are not yet registered with a local doctor. I am classed as medically vulnerable in the UK and had I been in the UK would have received vaccination 2 weeks ago. Where do I stand in Italy ? How can I access my the vaccine ?

  5. I am 61yo, Resident, and in category one. Do I wait for my GP to notify me where and when? Do I register somewhere? Thanks for the helpful articles! Keep them coming!

  7. Hi Jessica, thank you so much for this great information! AT the very end, where it speaks of “doses” (eg 2 million already, 2 more in Feb, 4 in Mar, 8 in Apr), does this literally mean “doses” or does it imply 2 million people treated, at 2 doses per person? If I add up the Jan-Apr totals I’m wondering whether the total of 16 million doses is 16 million people served or only 8 million?

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BREXIT

‘In the dark’: Why Brits in Italy are still unable to prove rights to free healthcare

Despite UK and Italian authorities confirming that British residents covered by post-Brexit rules are entitled to healthcare in Italy, many still face "significant problems" in accessing it, the British government has said.

Published: 22 May 2024 13:38 CEST
Updated: 23 May 2024 11:57 CEST
'In the dark': Why Brits in Italy are still unable to prove rights to free healthcare

Cancer patients are among those in need of treatment but unable to access the Italian national health service amid confusion over post-Brexit rules, campaigners say, after clarifications from the UK and Italian governments have so far failed to resolve bureaucratic deadlocks at local authority level.

Since the end of the Brexit transition period in 2021, many British nationals resident in Italy covered by the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) have reported difficulties in proving their right to free healthcare under the Italian public system.

The problem was exacerbated this year after the Italian government in January hiked the minimum annual fee for ‘voluntary’ healthcare registration from €387 to €2,000, which many said they were unable to pay.

The British government in February stepped in to clarify that UK nationals covered by the WA should not be subject to charges for healthcare, and on its Living in Italy website it advised those affected to show their local health authority office (Azienda Sanitaria Locale, or ASL) an official note published by the Italian health ministry on February 15th which sets out their rights (find it here, in Italian.)

WA beneficiaries “can compulsorily enrol (iscrizione obbligatoria) with the Italian National Health System,” states the final section, pointing out that the deal, “in Article 23, provides for equal treatment with domestic nationals.”

But for some local health officials, even this written confirmation does not appear to be enough to clear up the confusion.

READ ALSO: ‘Life or death situation’: Brits facing high Italian healthcare costs amid rule change uncertainty

The UK government on Friday, May 17th, updated its guidance to say it had become aware that “some beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement are facing significant problems accessing health services and renewing their healthcare cards,” despite its advice to show local health authorities the official note.

British nationals continue to report that local health authorities around Italy remain unwilling to issue them with a health card, while campaigners say the situation is further complicated for some by the fact that Italian authorities have also refused to issue proof of their permanent residency status, which entitles them to free healthcare.

This was the case for Graham Beresford, a British citizen living in Abruzzo who has been diagnosed with a rare cancer and remains unable to access the free healthcare he is entitled to, as he says local authorities don’t understand the post-Brexit rules.

Graham told The Local in April that the government’s clarifications on the issue had made little difference – his ASL continues to demand he pay the 2,000-euro charge.

READ ALSO: Can I get a refund after wrongly paying Italy’s €2,000 healthcare fee?

“Every time I go to my ASL office, I always feel like I’m dismissed,” Graham said. “I told the ASL worker I need medication for my cancer and she replied lots of people come in here with sob stories.

“There genuinely seems to be no compassion whatsoever.”

Graham’s story was reported in The Guardian on May 12th ahead of UK foreign secretary David Cameron’s first major meeting with European commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič to discuss post-Brexit relations.

Campaigners also wrote to Cameron in April to appeal for help with the “desperate” situation faced by those unable to access care in Italy.

In its update to the Living in Italy website on Friday, the British government stated: “Since [the health ministry’s note] was published, and particularly in recent days and weeks, it has become clear to us that not all Italian authorities are consistently following this guidance.”

“We are urgently speaking to all relevant parts of the Italian government to clarify the situation so that we can give clear advice to those affected as soon as possible. 

“We also know that this problem is linked to the many difficulties some are experiencing with obtaining an attestazione di soggiorno permanente and/or the Carta di Soggiorno permanente. We are working to help with these issues too.

“We will update this page as soon as we have further news.”

READ ALSO: ‘We are desperate’: Why the UK must help Britons with Italian healthcare charges

Clarissa Killwick from Beyond Brexit, a group for UK citizens in Italy, said the situation “should never have been allowed to happen” and that there had been “a series of communication failures and inconsistencies.”

“We’re not far short of five months after the introduction of the €2,000 new minimum for voluntary contributions and there is still no clarity,” she added.

“There are fraught exchanges in public offices because people on both sides of the counter are in the dark or with conflicting information.

“People need information they can rely on, unequivocally. What do you say to someone who is waiting for an operation but has no idea what is going on?”

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