Thursday, January 06, 2022
Higher risk of hospitalization
Italy makes vaccination compulsory from 50
The vaccination rate in Italy is comparatively high, but there is room for improvement. In view of the frightening number of cases from Omikron, the government is expanding the compulsory vaccination for certain professional groups. Now everyone should be immunized over 50 years.
Due to the pandemic, the Italian government is introducing compulsory corona vaccination for people over 50. “We are stepping in, especially in the age groups that are more at risk of hospitalization, to take the pressure off the clinics,” said Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Wednesday evening. From February 15, the 2G rule at work will also apply to those over 50. This means that they must have been shown to have been vaccinated against Covid-19 or have recovered from the disease in order to be able to go to work.
So far, the “Green Pass” is mandatory for all employees in Italy, i.e. proof of vaccination, recovery or a negative test. A negative rapid test is recognized for 48 hours.
“The measures are intended to maintain the good functioning of the hospitals and at the same time keep schools and businesses open,” said Draghi, explaining the new measures. The compulsory vaccination has also been extended to university staff. It was already in place in schools, as well as in health care and the police. The regulations come into force when they appear in the Official Journal. When that would be was initially unclear.
The 3G rule applies to body-hugging services, such as the hairdresser’s. So you need at least a negative corona test. This restriction also applies to access to government offices, the post office, banks and shops. Shops for daily needs and pharmacies are excluded.
A point of contention in the past few days has also been the handling of the Omikron variants in schools. From Monday the boys and girls will go back to class. Draghi had always spoken out in favor of avoiding distance learning. In primary schools, if there are two infections, everyone in one class has to go to homeschooling for ten days. In secondary school, distance learning is only planned for three corona cases. In the case of two, everyone at home who has not been boosted or who has recovered more than 120 days ago must attend class at home.
Italy is currently facing an unprecedented number of new infections. More than 189,000 cases were counted on Wednesday, and there were over 170,000 on Tuesday. A good 74 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.