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Rome (AFP) – The Italian Deputy Minister of Health caused controversy this Tuesday by assuring that there is no evidence of the effectiveness of vaccines against covid-19, which is why it was necessary to rectify in the face of the outcry.
When asked in a public television program by Rai about the possibility of a high number of deaths in Italy if there were no vaccine, Marcello Gemmato replied: “You are the one who says it. We have no proof to the contrary,” he underlined.
“I do not fall into the trap of taking a position for or against vaccines”, added the new deputy health minister of the far-right government led by Giorgia Meloni, who accused the previous executive of having “an ideological approach”. to the management of the pandemic.
Gemmato, a pharmacist by profession, a close friend of Meloni and a former deputy of the post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia party, as a parliamentarian opposed the introduction of the health passport and the mandatory vaccination against covid-19.
His statements provoked strong reactions.
“How can we say that there is no scientific evidence that vaccines have saved the lives of millions of people? We need to read the scientific literature,” infectious disease specialist Matteo Bassetti reacted on Twitter.
For his part, the leader of the Action Party (centre), Carlo Calenda, has called for the resignation of Marcello Gemmato.
“A deputy health minister who doesn’t distance himself from the ‘no vaccines’ movement is in the wrong position,” he lamented.
Democratic Party leader Enrico Letta also urged him to resign under the same conditions.
The former far-right MP explained in a statement on Tuesday that his statements had been taken out of context.
“Vaccines are valuable weapons against covid, my words have been taken out of context and have been exploited,” he said.
Italy was the first country in Europe affected by the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020. The death toll up to November 10 is 179,985 deaths, according to data from the Ministry of Health.
© 2022 AFP
