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HEALTH

Covid-19: Italy passes 50 million vaccinations milestone

Italy passed the symbolic mark of 50 million Covid-19 vaccines administered on Monday, the same day the whole country became a low-risk 'white zone' and rules on wearing masks outdoors were relaxed.

Published: 29 June 2021 10:10 CEST
Covid-19: Italy passes 50 million vaccinations milestone
Photo: Marco Bertorello/AFP

As of Tuesday, 33% of the Italian population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

“It’s a very significant figure,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza said, according to news agency Ansa.

READ ALSO: What changes as all of Italy moves into the low-restriction ‘white zone’ on Monday?

Speranza added that “the real weapon we have against the rise of the variants is the vaccination campaign.”

Speaking earlier on Monday, the minister also said Italy’s goal was to “vaccinate all Italians who want it with the first dose by the end of the summer”.

He added that masks, which no longer need to be worn outdoors except for in crowded areas, remained “essential”.

Italian health experts however have warned that the government can’t rely only on vaccines and mask-wearing to keep the spread of the Delta variant in check.

Italy’s Higher Health Institute (ISS) said in a report on Friday the Delta variant, which originated in India and has driven a rise in infections in the UK, now accounted for more than 16% of new cases in Italy. Other studies put the figure at 32% last week.

READ ALSO: Italian health experts warn about Delta variant as vaccine progress slows

The report warned that this variant was more contagious and had the potential to partially elude vaccines. 

The ISS, independent health watchdog GIMBE, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) last week called for more testing, sequencing and tracing in Italy.

The reports also called for renewed efforts to increase vaccination coverage, after the number of vaccines administered last week fell slightly (-4.5%) for the first time, according to data analysis from GIMBE.

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HEALTH

Italy’s schools warned to ‘avoid gatherings’ as Covid cases rise

As Italy’s new school year began, masks and hand sanitiser were distributed in schools and staff were asked to prevent gatherings to help stem an increase in Covid infections.

Published: 11 September 2023 12:48 CEST
Italy’s schools warned to ‘avoid gatherings’ as Covid cases rise

Pupils returned to school in many parts of Italy on Monday and authorities said they were distributing masks and hand sanitiser amid a post-summer increase in the number of recorded cases of Covid–19.

“The advice coming from principals, teachers and janitors is to avoid gatherings of students, especially in these first days of school,” Mario Rusconi, head of Italy’s Principals’ Association, told Rai news on Monday.

He added that local authorities in many areas were distributing masks and hand sanitizer to schools who had requested them.

“The use of personal protective equipment is recommended for teachers and students who are vulnerable,” he said, confirming that “use is not mandatory.”

A previous requirement for students to wear masks in the classroom was scrapped at the beginning of the last academic year.

Walter Ricciardi, former president of the Higher Health Institute (ISS), told Italy’s La Stampa newspaper on Monday that the return to school brings the risk of increased Covid infections.

Ricciardi described the health ministry’s current guidelines for schools as “insufficient” and said they were “based on politics rather than scientific criteria.”

READ ALSO:

Recorded cases of Covid have increased in most Italian regions over the past three weeks, along with rates of hospitalisation and admittance to intensive care, as much of the country returns to school and work following the summer holidays.

Altogether, Italy recorded 21,309 new cases in the last week, an increase of 44 percent compared to the 14,863 seen the week before.

While the World Health Organisation said in May that Covid was no longer a “global health emergency,” and doctors say currently circulating strains of the virus in Italy are not a cause for alarm, there are concerns about the impact on elderly and clinically vulnerable people with Italy’s autumn Covid booster campaign yet to begin.

“We have new variants that we are monitoring but none seem more worrying than usual,” stated Fabrizio Maggi, director of the Virology and Biosafety Laboratories Unit of the Lazzaro Spallanzani Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome

He said “vaccination coverage and hybrid immunity can only translate into a milder disease in young and healthy people,” but added that “vaccinating the elderly and vulnerable continues to be important.”

Updated vaccines protecting against both flu and Covid are expected to arrive in Italy at the beginning of October, and the vaccination campaign will begin at the end of October, Rai reported.

Amid the increase in new cases, Italy’s health ministry last week issued a circular mandating Covid testing on arrival at hospital for patients with symptoms.

Find more information about Italy’s current Covid-19 situation and vaccination campaign on the Italian health ministry’s website (available in English).

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