Advertisement

Italy likely to offer Covid booster jabs to all 'from January'

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Italy likely to offer Covid booster jabs to all 'from January'
Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP

Everyone in Italy is set to be offered a third dose of an anti-Covid vaccine to help contain the spread of new variants, a government official said on Tuesday.

Advertisement

"It is most likely that a third dose will be necessary for everybody," Deputy Health Minister Pierpaolo Sileri told Radio Capital.

His remarks echoed comments from the president of the national health institute ISS, Silvio Brusaferro, who said 24 hours earlier that the need for third doses for all "couldn't be excluded".

READ ALSO: Which Italian regions have the highest Covid vaccination rates?

Italy is already administering booster shots to patients with fragile immune systems and serious medical conditions, people aged over 60 and health workers.

"I imagine the rest of the population [will follow] from January," Sileri said.

Advertisement

To date, almost 44.5 million people in Italy, or 82.3 percent of those over the age of 12, have been fully vaccinated, and 1.1 million have already received booster shots.

EXPLAINED: Who can access a third dose of the Covid vaccine in Italy?

To boost vaccination rates, Italy has brought in some of the world's strictest measures with health certificates now mandatory for all workers.

The certificate, known as a 'green pass', is also a requirement at many cultural and leisure venues and on long-distance public transport.

The pass is available to everyone who is vaccinated or recently recovered from Covid-19, but can also be obtained by getting a negative test, at the individual's own expense.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

Anonymous 2021/10/26 23:07
another power grab from the Snake in charge....Draghi

See Also