Italy: Protests break out against COVID vaccine passports in Rome, Milan, & Trieste

Italians on Saturday flooded the streets in Trieste and other major cities, protesting against the government’s new COVID-19 'Green Pass' rule. Italy recently rolled out an update mandating the European Union's COVID-19 passport ‘Green Pass’ for the public and private sector workers.

The government warned earlier that any employee found without a health vaccine certificate "will be suspended on the spot” and will not be entitled to pay for up to five days. The Italian press reported on Saturday, October 2, that the anti-vax demonstrators are now widely condemning the Italian government’s move arguing that the rule infringes their freedom and civil liberties. The government, however, defended the mandate, saying that the step was taken to curb the coronavirus pandemic and avoid outbreaks driven by the hyper contagious Delta variant. 

COVID-19 sceptics converged in Italian cities of Rome, Milan, and Trieste on October 2 to oppose the Italian vaccine mandate and government’s immunisation program, chanting “Keep your hands off our children,” the local press reported. In Bergamo, the once epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, protesters marched demanding that the administration roll back the vaccine certificates mandate.

Bergamo had witnessed a humanitarian crisis during the peak of the pandemic as hospitals were deeply strained and the clinicians and medics were exhausted from being pushed to the brink of their maximum capacity. Italian city had battled an uncontrollable onslaught of COVID-19 patients in the ICU, the majority of whom were intubated. Military trucks were seen ferrying corpses out of town as the pandemic battered the city with a shocking 500% spike in fatalities in March 2020. More than 30% of Italy’s national coronavirus death toll comes from Lombardy, a town in Bergamo. 

‘Green Pass’ passport scheme to take effect from October 15

Italy’s prime minister Mario Draghi announced last month that the government’s extension of the ‘Green Pass’ passport scheme will take effect from October 15. Italy made it compulsory for the medical workers, teachers, and university students, to at least present proof for one dose of vaccination or a negative RT-PCR report taken in the past 24 hours.

Citizens are now being urged to mandatorily produce a digital or paper ‘COVID-19 immunity certificate’ to avail services at the public venues, such as using transportation via rail and buses. Customers are required to show the Green Pass for dining inside the restaurants or go to the gym. Italy was the first European country to make coronavirus health passes mandatory for both public and private-sector workers effective October 15. While the Italian ministry argued that the citizens did not have to administer jab if they choose and instead take a test, residents are arguing that it costs 50 euros to do so and testing implies waiting in long queues.