Italy makes Covid vaccines mandatory for the over-50s

Covid vaccines to become mandatory for the over-50s age group in Italy

On Wednesday, January 5, Italy approved the mandatory vaccination of all its citizens aged over 50. In a meeting of the Council of Ministers, this action was called for in a bid to control the pressure of mounting hospital infections, and to protect the population.
Sources from the Headquarters of the Government confirmed this action, indicating that the Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, had pointed out in the meeting, the need for the population to be immunised to control the pandemic.
“Today’s measures want to preserve the proper functioning of hospitals, and, at the same time, keep schools and companies open. We want to stop the growth of the contagion curve, and push Italians who have not yet been vaccinated to do so”, said Draghi, according to the sources.
“We act on the age groups most at risk of being admitted to reduce hospital pressure and save lives”, he added.
Last week, the Government decided that the reinforced health certificate, which is obtained when you are vaccinated, or have recovered from the disease, will be mandatory from January 10. This document will be required to access all means of transport, in addition to hotels, ceremonies, and festivals, while for now, it is requested in leisure and catering establishments.
Draghi allegedly wanted to expand the use of this reinforced passport to more activities, including public services, personal care, and shopping centres. This idea was rejected, due to the reluctance of certain parties of the government coalition, such as the far-right Liga. According to the Italian media, they interpreted it as a masked mandatory vaccination for everyone.
Roberto Speranza, the Minister of Health, said that the decisions taken seek to reduce the number of unvaccinated as much as possible, because “it is what causes the saturation of the hospital systems. Two-thirds of those hospitalised in UCIs, and 50 per cent of patients in ordinary wards, are not vaccinated”.
On Wednesday 5, Italy registered its highest total of infections since the start of the pandemic. They reported 190,000 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number to 6.7 million since February 2020. The death toll was 231, bringing the total to 138,276.
Out of Italy’s population, 89.13 per cent of those over twelve years of age already have at least one dose of the vaccine. A total of 86.07 per cent have both jabs, while 67.67 per cent have received the booster shot, as reported by cadenaser.com.

___________________________________________________________

Thank you for reading, and don’t forget to check The Euro Weekly News for all your up-to-date local and international news stories, and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.