Italy imposes mandatory vaccination against coronavirus for people over 50

The Council of Ministers of Italy today approved mandatory vaccination against coronavirus for over 50 years, a measure that seeks to relieve hospital pressure and control infections to protect the population. This was confirmed today by sources from the Headquarters of the Government, who indicated that the Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, pointed out in the meeting with the ministers the need for the population to be immunized to control the pandemic.

“Today’s measures want to preserve the proper functioning of hospitals and, at the same time, keep schools and businesses 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 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 (obtained when you are vaccinated or have passed the disease) will be mandatory from January 10 to access means of transport, in addition to hotels, ceremonies or festivals; while for now it is requested in leisure and catering.

Draghi wanted to expand the use of this reinforced passport to more activities, such as public services, personal care or shopping centers, but it was not possible this Wednesday due to the reluctance of some forces of the government coalition, such as the far-right Liga, which interpreted it as a masked compulsory vaccination for everyone, according to the Italian media.

The Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, said for his part that the decisions taken seek to reduce the number of unvaccinated as much as possible because “it is what causes the saturation of hospital systems.”

“Two thirds of those hospitalized in ucis and 50% of patients in ordinary wards are not vaccinated,” he lamented.

Italy today has registered a new record of infections since the start of the pandemic, with 190,000 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number to 6.7 million since February 2020.

The death toll has been 231, bringing the total to 138,276.

Regarding the vaccination campaign, 89.13% of the population over twelve years of age already have at least one dose and 86.07% have completed the cycle, while the booster has been inoculated at 67.67 % of the population that can receive it.

10.98% of children between 5 and 11 years old also already have at least one dose, but only 0.01% of this group has the complete regimen.

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