Italy is increasing pressure on unvaccinated people. To be able to attend restaurants, hotels, sports halls, as well as buses, trains, planes and ships, a vaccination pass proving that one has been vaccinated or that one has recently recovered will be necessary from Monday 10 January, until March 31. A negative test for SARS-CoV-2 will no longer suffice.
FFP2 masks are also compulsory in theaters, cinemas, sports stadiums and all public transport.
These measures represent a further tightening of restrictions on the unvaccinated in the face of increasing infections, including among children. Italy had already introduced, last week, the vaccination obligation for people over 50 years old.
On the other hand, schools opened Monday for a new term by government decision, despite calls from school principals and the doctors’ union to delay the return to class for at least another fifteen days.
A delay for the inhabitants of the small islands
The unvaccinated inhabitants of the small Italian islands, who had warned that they risked ending up in “Forced exile” by the new rules, were granted additional time.
These inhabitants, for whom boats and planes are the only means of leaving and returning to the islands, will be able to continue traveling with the only negative test for health and education reasons until February 10.
The country was the first European country to be affected by the coronavirus at the start of 2020 and has one of the heaviest tolls – just under 140,000 deaths. More than 86% of those over 12 have been vaccinated and some 15% of children aged 5 to 11 have received their first vaccine.
