Walter Ricciardi, a top physician and
an advisor to Health Minister Roberto Speranza, said Wednesday
that Italy does not need to follow Austria's lead and impose
restrictions that would only apply to people not vaccinated for
COVID-19.
Some governors have called for unvaccinated-only measures to
combat an upswing in contagion.
"We don't need a lockdown for the unvaccinated," Ricciardi told
Radio Capital.
"Austria took this decision because it is behind with the
vaccination campaign and has an incidence (of COVID cases) to 10
times higher than ours".
Ricciardi also said that he expected this Christmas to be "more
tranquil than in 2020".
Over 86% of the Italian population over 12 have had at least one
dose of a COVID vaccine and over 84% are double-jabbed or
better.
Furthermore, the Green Pass COVID health certificate, which
shows that a person is vaccinated for the coronavirus, has
recovered from it in the last six months or tested negative in
the last few days, is obligatory to access places of work in
Italy.
Ricciardi stressed, however, that having seven million people in
Italy who are still not vaccinated for COVID was "too many".
He also said that the fact someone can obtain a Green Pass for
48 hours by doing a swab was the "Achilles' heel" of this system
in Italy.
The expert said that, when a COVID vaccine is approved for
children under 12 in Europe, it will probably be recommended,
but not obligatory, in Italy.
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