(Rome) In Italy, people not vaccinated against COVID-19 can no longer eat in restaurants or fly to travel within the country, according to new rules that came into force on Monday, as schools reopened .
Only people recently recovered from COVID-19 are exempt from this obligation, which represents a further tightening of restrictions on the unvaccinated in the face of increasing infections, including among children.
Italy also introduced compulsory vaccination for people over 50 years of age last week.
Schools have opened for a new term by government decision, despite calls from school principals or the doctors’ union to delay return to class for at least another 15 days.
The virologist Massimo Galli, of the Sacco hospital in Milan, judged the opening of schools “reckless and unjustified”, while the public health expert Walter Ricciardi called the situation “explosive”.
Moreover, more than 1000 municipalities have decided to leave schools closed on their territory, according to media.
Italy was the first European country to be affected by the coronavirus at the start of 2020 and has one of the heaviest tolls, with nearly 140,000 deaths.
More than 86% of those over 12 have been vaccinated and some 15% of children aged five to eleven have received their first vaccine.
The national railway company Trenitalia said on Monday it had canceled 180 regional trains due to coronavirus infections.
Until March 31, it will therefore be necessary to have a vaccination passport proving that you have been vaccinated or that you have recently recovered, a negative test no longer sufficient, to be able to use restaurants, hotels and sports halls, as well as buses, trains, planes and ships.
FFP2 masks are now mandatory in theaters, cinemas, sports stadiums and all public transport.
The unvaccinated inhabitants of the small Italian islands, who had warned that they risked finding themselves in “forced exile” by the new rules, were granted additional time.
These inhabitants – for whom boats and planes are the only means of leaving and returning to the islands – will be able to continue traveling with the only negative test for health and education reasons until February 10.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi was due to address the country on the new measures on Monday.