While facing a dizzying rise in cases, Italy on Wednesday made vaccination mandatory for people over 50 in a bid to ease pressure on the health service and reduce deaths.
The text determines that the measure enters into force immediately, valid until June 15, making Italy one of the few European countries to adopt the obligation – Austria announced that it must require the immunization of those over 14 years old, and Greece determined the imposition for those over 60 years of age.
The decree tightens current restrictions by removing the option to present a negative test, instead of vaccination, for those over 50 as of February 15, but does not provide for punishment for those who disrespect the rule.
With a total of 6.57 million cases recorded since the start of the pandemic in February last year, Italy has seen infections rise by 357% in the last 14 days, according to data compiled by The New York Times. Currently, the moving average considering the last seven days was at 115,791 this Tuesday (4), a number never seen before in the pandemic.
The country was impacted by the omicron variant later than other Europeans, but the outbreak has overwhelmed hospitals and ICUs. Hospitalizations increased by 47.5% between December 15th and 29th — the most recent data available from Our World in Data.
Deaths, despite being on the rise, have not followed the same pace. Tuesday’s daily average was 156, 22% higher than 14 days ago, according to Our World in Data. In total, there were 138,000 deaths, the second highest number in Europe, behind only the United Kingdom. This is partly due to vaccination – the country has 74% of its population with a complete vaccination schedule, and 35% have already received the booster dose.
The administration of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi had already made vaccination mandatory for teachers and health workers. Since October of last year, employees must be vaccinated or test negative to work in the office. Refusal results in suspension without pay, but does not lead to dismissal.
The decree, approved after two and a half hours of meeting, generated friction within the multiparty coalition that keeps Draghi in power. The ministers of the right-wing League released a statement moving away from the mandatory vaccination, which they classified as “without scientific basis, considering that the absolute majority of those hospitalized with Covid are much more than 60 years old”.
Draghi told the cabinet, according to his spokesman, that the measures aim to “keep hospitals running well while keeping schools open and business activities open.”
Still, the final text was more lenient in allowing the negative test to continue to be presented to enter public buildings, post offices, non-essential stores and beauty salons — and not just vaccinated or recently infected, as predicted by the draft.
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