“We want to slow down the pollution curve and encourage Italians who have not yet been vaccinated to do so,” Prime Minister Mario Draghi explained during the Cabinet meeting.
“We are working specifically to reduce the pressure on hospitals and save lives, especially for those at risk of being admitted to hospital,” he added.
In detail, the mandate-law imposes a vaccination duty on those over the age of 50 who do not work and must have a vaccine pass on everyone over the age of 50 who works in the public and private sectors.
In fact, it is actually mandatory for everyone over the age of 50 to be vaccinated because the so-called “Reinforced Health Pass” vaccine in Italy is obtained only after a complete vaccination cycle or after recovering from covid disease.
According to the National Institutes of Statistics (Istat), Italy has a population of 59 million, of which 28 million are over 50 years of age.
When asked by AFPTV on Wednesday evening in a square in central Rome, an employee, Emilio Santamaria, expressed support for the move: “I think the compulsory vaccine should be extended to all or at least all adults. So I see it. Positively.”
On December 29, the government had already decided that the vaccination pass would be required from January 10 in transport, hotels, restaurant terraces, exhibitions and conferences and in swimming pools and gyms.
Until now, to travel by train and plane, it was enough to have a “basic” health pass obtained through the vaccine, but could be obtained by a negative test.
Vaccination passes are already required for certain professional categories, such as health workers, school staff and law enforcement personnel.
Like its neighbors, the peninsula has recorded the highest number of new positive cases in recent days: more than 189,000 on Wednesday and more than 170,000 on Tuesday. In total, more than 1.4 million people are currently positive in Italy.
Italy, the first European country to be hit hard by the epidemic, has recorded more than 138,000 deaths since the beginning of 2020.
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