Italy makes Covid vaccination mandatory for over-50s
Italy makes vaccination mandatory. Photo EPA, Luca Zennaro
Southern Europe
The Italian Cabinet voted in favour of making vaccines against the Covid-19 virus mandatory for everyone over 50 years old.
The newspaper Avvenire reports this.
The measure has gone into force immediately on Wednesday and remains in place until June 15. Starting February 15, all employees over 50 will have to show the ‘green pass’ to access their job. If someone refuses to get vaccinated, he or she will not be able to work and be sent on unpaid leave. Unvaccinated Italians who go to work nevertheless face fines up to 1500 euros. Employers are allowed to fire those on unpaid leave for not having a green pass.
An exception is made for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. Those people need to prove their condition by showing a doctor’s certificate and will be assigned different tasks while receiving the same salary.
Protecting economic recovery
The Italian government introduces mandatory vaccinations because it wants to protect economic recovery by avoiding a lockdown, Politico reports. Another reason for introducing the green pass is to avoid an overwhelmed healthcare system.
Leftist Democrats wanted to go even further and introduce the green pass to all adults. Others argued that the age should go down to 40. On the other hand, the Five Star Movement voted against mandatory vaccination.
According to Euractiv, Italy recorded 189,109 new daily cases on Tuesday. This number has increased by 92.9 per cent compared to a week earlier.
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