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COVID-19 RULES

Italy considers making Covid vaccine mandatory for the over 60s

The Italian government has begun a meeting to discuss making vaccines compulsory for the over 60s among a raft of other new health measures, as Covid cases continue to surge and hospitalisations increase.

Published: 5 January 2022 16:49 CET
An elderly lady in Italy receives the Covid vaccine.
Italy is discussing making vaccination mandatory for the over 60s. Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP

Talks have started on the latest change to the nationwide Covid-19 health measures in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus, as Italy reported a record high of 170,000 cases on Tuesday.

This will be the third Covid decree after the government already brought in two previous ones in as many weeks.

Calendar: When do Italy’s Covid-19 rules change?

Included in the draft decree is the proposal to make vaccines compulsory for the most fragile members of society at greatest risk of falling seriously ill from Covid – those over 60 years old.

The move is hoped to reach the some 1.5 million people in this category who have yet to receive a single dose, according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

The far-right League party is in favour of a vaccine mandate for this age group. Tourism Minister Massimo Garavaglia said this would be “precisely to protect the most fragile segments of the population”, reports news agency Ansa.

But Italy’s centrist Five Star Movement party is reportedly opposed to the idea. Its current leader and former prime minister, Giuseppe Conte said, “It seems paradoxical to reason about compulsory vaccination when even those who make themselves available for the third dose find it difficult to do so quickly.”

Other ideas on the table are extending the ‘super green pass’ to all workplaces, effectively meaning all workers will need to get vaccinated.

Only healthcare staff, police, teachers and emergency services workers are currently subject to mandatory vaccinations. While this is a possibility for all staff, it’s expected the government will approve expanding the super health certificate requirement.

The ‘super’ or ‘reinforced’ green pass health certificate, which proves vaccination or recovery, has already been made compulsory for access to almost all leisure, social or sporting activities in the country, but workplaces so far are not subject to the rule.

Also to be decided are the new rules on quarantine and distance learning for schools ahead of their return to class after the festive break.

Member comments

  1. The continued vulnerability may not be with the over 60’s (although I see the reasoning), but with the lack of vaccinations available to non-registrants of the Italian healthcare system. The lack of vaccination availability might span entire age groups of that group of people.

    Consider, for example, the individual who has been fully vaccinated with two, or even three, shots prior to entering Italy. They might be here for 90 days or for a year, perhaps even longer. They cannot obtain a vaccination without a healthcare system number. At present, many have to return to their home country to get additional shots.

    The less travel and travel contacts made to achieve full vaccination and protection for all countries is to open the shots to everyone – citizen, ex-patriot, visitor and the like. Charging for those shots would be acceptable, I’m sure, to those seeking vaccinations.

    The benefit isn’t just for the individuals, but the whole community.

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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.”

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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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