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Wealthier Italian regions announce plans to buy more vaccine doses

Five northern Italian regions have announced that they intend to purchase millions of additional doses of Covid-19 vaccines on top of those provided under the national and European vaccination programme.

Published: 16 February 2021 10:01 CET
Wealthier Italian regions announce plans to buy more vaccine doses
Photo: AFP

In recent days, the administrations of Veneto, Piedmont, Lombardy, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Emilia Romagna – among the wealthiest of Italy's 20 regions – have announced plans to purchase more vaccines

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

Luca Zaia, president of the Veneto region, said on Monday he was waiting for Italy's central government to authorise a bid for his region to buy up to 27 million vaccine doses from unnamed producers, according to Italian media reports.

“I have two offers for the purchase of vaccines, one for 15 million and one for 12 million doses,” he said. “These are vials authorized by the EMA (European Medicines Agency), proposed by verified intermediaries, with prices in line with those agreed by the EU with Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna.”
 
Veneto's healthcare chief, Luciano Flor, said: “the draft contracts are ready and can be closed in three to four days. The suppliers assure us that the doses would arrive in less than a month.”
 
While Italy has a national vaccination plan in place, timing and schedules vary by regional authority. This is due the country's highly decentralised system, which means each region manages its own healthcare system.
 
Under the regional system however, Italy has long had a problem with inequality between richer and poorer regions when it comes to healthcare provision and funding.
 
In Calabria, the country's poorest region, serious problems with funding and managing the coronavirus emergency response mean a war relief charity has been drafted in.
 
The symbol of Italy's vaccine programme on the floor of a health centre in Lombardy. Photo: AFP
 
Zaia insisted the Veneto region's bid to purchase more vaccines was “not a separatist move, but cooperative”.
 
He said Veneto has submitted its bids to coronavirus emergency commissioner, Domenico Arcuri, for approval.
 
 
The announcement from northern regions came as the government, led by former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, took office over the weekend.
 
Draghi is expected to outline the new government's plans for managing the coronavirus crisis when he speaks in the Senate this week.
 
He has already indicated that controlling the spread of new virus variants is a priority for the new government, along with speeding up the mass vaccination campaign.

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BREXIT

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

A 74-year-old British woman has explained the "frustration and fear" Britons in Italy are facing when trying to access healthcare and appealed to the UK government for help.

Published: 11 April 2024 09:53 CEST
'We are desperate': Why the UK must help Britons with Italian healthcare charges

Pat Eggleton, a teacher and writer from the UK, appealed to the UK’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron in the letter sent April 9th about the “desperate” situation faced by UK citizens entitled to free healthcare in Italy – but unable to access it.

British nationals residing in Italy before Brexit, and covered by the Withdrawal Agreement (WA), are in many cases being told by Italian health authorities that they must pay steep new fees at a minimum of €2,000 a year – even though they are exempt from paying at all.

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

In her open letter seen by The Local, Ms. Eggleton, who has lived in Italy since 2005, highlighted that the current minimum is a huge jump from the previous €387, and said that the sum was “difficult, or even impossible, for some to find when there had been no prior notification and there is no option to pay in instalments.”

“A great deal of undeserved worry, frustration and even fear has ensued,” she wrote.

“Some of our group have serious, ongoing health conditions. All we require is for one sentence from the Italian government confirming that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries do not have to pay for healthcare access to be circulated to all regional health authorities.

“We implore you to act before this becomes even more serious. As someone put it, “This is a matter not only of money, but of health.” 

Ms Eggleton’s letter came exactly one month after the British government confirmed that all WA agreement beneficiaries are exempt from paying the €2,000 fee, provided they were living in Italy before January 1st 2021.

But there were no details available at the time from the Italian government setting out how the rules would be implemented or communicated to local health authorities around Italy.

Since then, there has been no further information released by the Italian government on any official platform. 

One Withdrawal Agreement beneficiary, Graham Beresford, told The Local last week how he was having trouble accessing healthcare, even though he has a right to it.

Mr. Beresford suffers from blood cancer and needs access to the Italian healthcare system to obtain his medication. 

“Every time I go to my ASL (local health unit) 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.”

The Local has written to the Italian health ministry for comment.

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