Once Covid-19 vaccines are approved, Italy will offer all citizens the opportunity to vaccinate for free, starting with doctors and nursing home staff, Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranca said on Wednesday.
The vaccination campaign is expected to start in the spring.
Italy will receive Covid-19 vaccines through the European Union’s (EU) procurement program and is awaiting approval from the European Medicines Agency, Speranca said.
Britain today became the first Western country to approve a vaccine against the new coronavirus developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German company BioNTech. This will give the UK access to Covid-19 vaccines earlier than the European Union (EU) and the US.
The European Medicines Agency said it would convene a meeting on December 29 to decide if there was enough data on the safety and effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
The agency also said that a decision could be made on January 12 to approve the vaccine against the new coronavir developed by the US pharmaceutical company “Moderna”.
Speranca said that a light was finally visible at the end of the tunnel.
“The vaccine will be distributed to all Italians for free. It will not be mandatory at first. The government will monitor how the campaign develops,” the minister said.
Italy, the first European country to be hit hard by a new coronavirus pandemic, is now battling a second wave of the virus. In Italy as a whole, Covid-19 has claimed the lives of more than 56,000 people.
Schools, restaurants and bars have been closed in the worst-affected regions of Italy and a curfew has been set across the country, but this has not slowed the spread of the virus, Speranca said.
He warned that people should expect the restrictions to remain in place at Christmas.
“I warn you not to confuse the first rays of the sun with escape from danger. If we relax now, the third wave will be around the corner,” the minister said.
The current restrictions will end this week, and Speranca did not disclose what the new measures will be.
However, the minister said that international travel during the holiday season would not be recommended and travel between Italian regions is likely to be banned.
Movement between cities will also be banned between Christmas Day and December 26.
The Italian government has also expressed support for Germany’s efforts to ban European ski resorts during Christmas. Austria opposes this, stating that it would be an economic disaster.
Speranca said Italy had signed agreements to buy vaccines from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi, Pfizer, CureVac and Moderna.
As soon as one of the vaccines is approved, the first doses will be given to healthcare workers – about 1.4 million people – and then to the residents of nursing homes, which are estimated at 570,000.
Next, people over the age of 80 will be vaccinated, followed by people over the age of 60 and people suffering from chronic diseases.
It is then planned to vaccinate teachers, police officers, prison guards, and then the rest of the community.
Speranca called on all Italian legislators with active anti-vaccination campaigns to persuade people to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
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