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COVID-19 VACCINES

Italy expands Covid vaccine requirement to teachers, police and rescue workers

From Wednesday, all those working in Italy's schools, police, military, or emergency services must be vaccinated against Covid-19, with sanctions for those who refuse.

Published: 14 December 2021 17:06 CET
A civil protection department workers at a Covid vaccination centre.
Italy's Covid vaccination mandate will be extended to more key workers from Wednesday, December 15th.Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP

The vaccination mandate for key workers first announced in November will be effective as of Wednesday December 15th.

After making vaccinations mandatory for all healthcare workers in April, the Italian government expanded the requirement to more groups in a decree signed into law on November 26th.

This includes health administrative staff, school teachers and administrative staff, military personnel, police and emergency services personnel.

READ ALSO: Italy set to extend Covid state of emergency into 2022

According to additional details published in a circular by Italy’s interior ministry on December 2nd, school staff who meet the criteria for mandatory shots include those in the national education system as well as those employed by private schools and children’s educational services. Vaccination is also a requirement for school managers.

All workers in Italy’s defence, security, emergency rescue, and juvenile and community justice sectors, as well as police, intelligence officers and prison guards, are obliged to undergo a full immunisation cycle.

Anyone in this category who refuses to get vaccinated will face sanctions, which can include suspension from work without pay.

Police officers who refuse to be vaccinated would also have to turn in their badge and any state-issued weapons and handcuffs.

Managers will have to check that staff comply with the new obligation. For those who can’t show proof of the vaccination, or a certificate to show why the injection isn’t needed or postponed, there will be “the immediate suspension of the right to carry out work, without disciplinary consequences and with the right to the preservation of the employment relationship”.

Fines of between €600 and €1,500 are imposed for those failing to follow the rules, while managers who don’t carry out checks for either public or private companies risk penalties of between €400 to €1,000, reported Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

The mandatory Covid-19 vaccination covers the entire vaccination cycle, including the obligation to get a third dose or booster shot, according to the November 26th decree.

The booster is available five months after the last dose, and must be given “within the validity period of the Covid-19 green certificates”, which means within nine months of the last shot.

Also from Wednesday, health and social care personnel who are already vaccinated will be required to get the booster dose.

The booster shot has been available to everyone in Italy aged 18 and over from December 1st.

Almost 86 percent of the eligible population over 12 years old has now completed the vaccination cycle in Italy, while some 12.7 million booster shots have been administered so far according to the latest official figures.

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COVID-19 VACCINES

How to get a Covid booster jab in Italy this autumn

Italy's autumn Covid vaccine booster campaign is now underway, along with its seasonal flu jabs rollout.

Published: 2 October 2023 13:08 CEST
Updated: 2 November 2023 12:21 CET
How to get a Covid booster jab in Italy this autumn

The updated Covid vaccine is now available across Italy’s regions, with over nine million doses due to arrive in the country by the end of November.

The first jabs were available in some regions from the start of October: Lazio started its campaign on Monday, October 2nd, while Friuli Venezia Giulia’s launched a few days earlier on September 29th.

As healthcare is managed on a regional level in Italy, each region has its own start date and booking procedure.

The boosters are particularly recommended for over-60s, those who are immunosuppressed or pregnant, and healthcare workers, though jabs may be available to others on request.

The campaign aims to prevent a seasonal spike in infections, with vaccines targeting the new Eris variant as well as new winter flu viruses.

Which vaccines are available?

According to the latest health ministry circular, the government’s Covid booster campaign uses Pfizer and BioNTech’s monovalent Comirnaty vaccine targeting Omicron XBB 1.5, otherwise known as Kraken.

The European Medicines Agency has said the vaccine is also effective against other variants including Eris (EG.5.1), which as of late September had become the dominant strain in Italy at 43.5 percent, according to ISS data.

“Eris is one of the viral forms we are seeing and I am pleased to announce that the latest approved vaccines also protect against variants in circulation, including Eris,” EMA director Emer Cooke reportedly said in a recent press conference on respiratory diseases.

The EMA has said the vaccine is effective against new variants.

The EMA has said the vaccine is effective against new variants. Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP.

Who are they for?

The health ministry says the campaign is particularly aimed at the following groups:

  • Over-60s
  • Residents of care facilities
  • People who are pregnant or breastfeeding
  • Health and social care workers
  • People of any age with underlying health conditions

Vaccines are also recommended for caregivers, family members, and anyone who lives with a medically vulnerable person.

Anyone who doesn’t fall into any of these these categories but would still like to get a Covid booster can access one on request, subject to availability.

Administration of the booster is recommend six months from the last dose or from the last known Covid infection (as confirmed by testing).

A single dose of the adapted vaccine is also recommended for those who have not yet received any Covid vaccines. For children aged six months to four years who have not yet been vaccinated or infected with Covid, three doses are recommended, each several weeks apart.

How to get the booster

Your first step should be to visit the government’s vaccine booking website and see how the campaign is being conducted in your region (under ‘Prenota vaccino’).

Italy’s healthcare system operates on a regional rather than a national level, so getting a booster in Emilia-Romagna will be a different process to getting one in Lombardy.

In Lazio, for example, priority will be awarded in the first instance to health and social care workers and residents of care homes. The vaccine will be offered to over-80s and the medically vulnerable from October 16th, and other categories from October 30th.

If you can’t see the information you need on your regional authority’s website, it’s a good idea to contact your family doctor or local pharmacist to see what they can tell you about accessing the jab.

With Italy’s previous Covid vaccination campaigns, the websites for most regional health authorities have required patients to input their tessera sanitaria (national health card) and codice fiscale (tax code) numbers in order to make an online booking.

That means that if you don’t have one, you’ll likely need to make a phone call to either your regional health authority.

In the past, readers of The Local reported being able to book an appointment for a Covid vaccine by phone using only their codice fiscale number after explaining the situation (you’ll need the help of an Italian speaker if you don’t speak Italian).

As Italy’s Covid booster campaign is being rolled out alongside its seasonal flu jab campaign, you should be able to get both shots at the same time.

The Covid situation in Italy

According to the latest weekly bulletin from Italy’s National Health Institute (ISS), the number of Covid cases in Italy has increased over the past few weeks, with 38,775 new cases recorded between September 21st-27th, but the infection rate is slowing.

As of the week ending September 27th, the Rt (transmission rate) in Italy was 0.9, below the epidemic threshold,  and the numbers of hospitalisations and of Covid patients in intensive care is also low and stable, the data shows.

However the risk to older members of the population and people with underlying health conditions who become infected remains “severe”, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warns.

“Vaccination saves lives, decreases the chances of being infected and reduces the risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and influenza,” ECDC director Andrea Ammon said in a recent press release encouraging uptake of the vaccines.

Find more information about Italy’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign on the Italian health ministry’s website.

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