Italy: COVID-19 vaccination made mandatory for people aged above 50 yrs amid Omicron surge

COVID-19 cases are increasing all over the world due to the spread of the emergence Omicron variant, which was first discovered in South Africa, a little over a month ago prompting all the countries around the world to take actions to combat the surge and in an effort to do that Italy government has announced that vaccinations for people over 50 years old are mandatory in the country. As per the reports of Politico, on Wednesday, it was announced that workers aged over 50 will have to provide a health card indicating they have been vaccinated or have recently recovered from COVID-19, or face being fired starting in mid-February.

It was also announced that those above the age of 50 who do not work will also have to be vaccinated. The announcement comes after a record number of over 190,000 cases were registered on Wednesday, and mortality reached their highest levels since Spring of 2020.

Schools and businesses to remain open

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi informed his ministers at a meeting lasting more than three hours that this action aims to keep schools and businesses open while also preserving the health system they want to slow the spread of illnesses by encouraging unvaccinated Italians to get inoculated. He also said that the government is focusing on the over-50s since they are among those who are particularly at risk of hospitalisation.

As per Politico, 78% of Italy's population is vaccinated. The objective of the Rome administration is to protect the economy by preventing lockdowns and to keep the healthcare system from being overburdened. In Italy, 7% of people over the age of 50 are unvaccinated. Hospital admissions have soared by 25% in a week as Omicron has grown.

50% in regular wards are unvaccinated

Health Minister Roberto Speranza said that two-thirds of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units and 50% of those treated in regular wards were unvaccinated, as per The Guardian. Many European countries like Greece also authorised mandatory vaccination for over 60-year-olds in November, and Austria, which has announced that unvaccinated people will face fines from February.

Image: AP/Representative