Italy introduces a corona vaccination obligation for people aged 50 and over. This was decided at a Council of Ministers meeting in Rome on Wednesday evening. Anyone who does not adhere to the regulation, which will apply from February 15, risks a fine of between EUR 600 and EUR 1,500.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s plans to make 2G mandatory for access to public offices, banks, post offices and barber shops failed due to opposition from the right-wing Lega. Instead, a 3-G obligation now applies as a prerequisite for entry to these areas. In the end, it was not decided whether civil servants should be vaccinated.
The Italian government had previously introduced compulsory vaccinations for teachers and health workers. Since October there has also been a 3-G obligation for all employees in the workplace. Failure to comply will result in suspension from work without pay, but not dismissal.
The measures that were decided by the cabinet on Wednesday evening had led to friction in the run-up to the multi-party coalition of Prime Minister Mario Draghi. The ministers of the right-wing Lega distanced themselves in a statement from the compulsory vaccination for over-50-year-olds and criticized that it was “without scientific basis, considering that the absolute majority of people hospitalized with Covid are well over 60 years old “. In the end, however, they still voted for mandatory vaccination.
Italy was later afflicted by the highly contagious Omikron variant as several northern European countries, but the number of confirmed cases has risen steadily in recent weeks, so that the hospitals and intensive care units are increasingly coming under pressure. Over the past two weeks there has been an average of more than 150 deaths per day, with 231 deaths on Wednesday and 259 on Tuesday. 189,109 new infections were registered on Wednesday, the highest number in Italy since the pandemic began.
