Italy wants to completely abolish the mask requirement within a few days: “From June 15, we will lift the last restrictive measures still in force. I think the conditions for this are in place,” said State Secretary for Health Andrea Costa on Thursday. This removes the obligation to wear face masks on board public transport, in schools, theaters and cinemas.
“The most likely scenario is an annual booster injection. We can assume that we can have updated vaccines in the fall. Science continues to work every day to enable us to have new tools at our disposal to face the pandemic, not only in terms of vaccines but also in terms of therapies,” Costa said on the radio.
Vaccination will probably fall for the most part
According to media reports, the Italian government does not want to extend the vaccination obligation for Italians over 50, which applies until June 15. Even compulsory vaccination for school personnel and military personnel will be abolished, but will remain in effect for health workers until the end of the year, according to government circles in Rome. The cabinet will make a corresponding decision in the coming days, Italian media report.
Mandatory vaccinations were introduced in January and prompted many undecided Italians to get vaccinated. However, 3.3 million over-50s are still unvaccinated, 12 percent of Italians in this age group. Meanwhile, a fine has been sent to 1.2 million unvaccinated Italians for not complying with the vaccination requirement. Accordingly, they each have to pay a fine of 100 euros. However, many opponents of vaccination have objected to the punishment.
Source: Krone
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