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Italy sets new daily record for Covid vaccinations

A record 600,000 doses of Covid vaccine were administered in Italy on Friday, putting the country in second place in Europe for the number of people fully vaccinated, authorities said.

Published: 5 June 2021 15:31 CEST

Italy sets new daily record for Covid vaccinations

Medical workers prepare doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, in the rooms of the Claudia Comte exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art "Castello di Rivoli" near Turin. Photo: Marco BERTORELLO / AFP

“Yesterday was marked by a record number of injections in 24 hours which touched the 600,000 mark while the number of doses administered crossed the 37-million mark,” the government body in charge of vaccinations said on Saturday.

“Italy is in second place in Europe in terms of the number of people fully vaccinated, just behind Germany and ahead of France and Spain,” it added.

READ ALSO: Italy opens Covid vaccinations to all age groups

It said Friday’s record vaccinations were in part due to an increase in the number of vaccination centres which now stood at 2,666 against 1,500 at the start of March. About 800 new centres will be opened in the coming weeks.

According to official government figures, 37.06 million vaccine doses have been administered and 12.7 million people — or nearly 24 percent of the population aged above 12 — have been vaccinated.

The pandemic has claimed 126,415 lives in Italy where the number of cases and deaths has been falling steadily in recent weeks.

The government has been slowly easing Covid restrictions, relaxing a night curfew and opening up indoor dining in restaurants and bars.

READ ALSO: How can you book a Covid vaccination appointment in Italy?

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Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The global health body on May 5 announced that the Covid-19 pandemic was no longer deemed a “global health emergency.”

“Whilst it may not be a global public health emergency, however, Covid-19 has not gone away,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge told reporters.

The WHO’s European region comprises 53 countries, including several in central Asia.

“Close to 1,000 new Covid-19 deaths continue to occur across the region every week, and this is an underestimate due to a drop in countries regularly reporting Covid-19 deaths to WHO,” Kluge added, and urged authorities to ensure vaccination coverage of at least 70 percent for vulnerable groups.

Kluge also said estimates showed that one in 30, or some 36 million people, in the region had experienced so called “long Covid” in the last three years, which “remains a complex condition we still know very little about.”

“Unless we develop comprehensive diagnostics and treatment for long Covid, we will never truly recover from the pandemic,” Kluge said, encouraging more research in the area which he called an under-recognised condition.

Most countries in Europe have dropped all Covid safety restrictions but some face mask rules remain in place in certain countries in places like hospitals.

Although Spain announced this week that face masks will no longer be required in certain healthcare settings, including hospitals and pharmacies, with a couple of exceptions.

Sweden will from July 1st remove some of its remaining Covid recommendations for the public, including advice to stay home and avoid close contact with others if you’re ill or have Covid symptoms.

The health body also urged vigilance in the face of a resurgence of mpox, having recorded 22 new cases across the region in May, and the health impact of heat waves.

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