Decision “on the basis of data”, explains Prime Minister Draghi, who underlines how we must proceed “with maximum speed” to the third dose
New anti-covid measures in Italy to stem the increase in infections and protect themselves from the Omicron variant? “Decisions will be made based on the data from the latest sequencing to see the rate of diffusion” of the new variant. Word of the premier Mario Draghi that yesterday, during the meeting with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and in view of the control room on 23 December, he expressed himself so on the hypothesis. “Now, this week – said Draghi -, we will have a control room where we will review any measures to be taken for the Christmas holidays, nothing has yet been decided: decisions will be made on the basis of the data from the latest sequencing to see the speed of diffusion of Omicron. The gist of the speech is to proceed with the maximum speed to the third administration “, the words of the premier.
Draghi therefore confirms what the minister said on Sunday Roberto Speranza, who had spoken of a new variant “not yet significantly widespread” in our country, but also of an “advantage” of Italy that “we must maintain” because “we know that it will not last long. But 10 days mean 4-5 millions of third doses and this can make the difference. Thursday the control room meets, no decision has been made: we will make the evaluations on the basis of the data “, assured Speranza.
If nothing is yet certain, it will certainly be difficult for the new measures to arrive as early as Christmas given the proximity of the control room, but in the meantime the contagion does not seem to stop: from yesterday, Monday 20 December, they then moved into the yellow zone with the obligation of outdoor masks also Marche – which recorded two new cases of Omicron -, Liguria, Veneto and the Autonomous Province of Trento. Lazio, on the other hand, is preparing for the change of color for New Year’s Eve, but from next 23 December, outdoor masks will also be mandatory here.
Meanwhile, the pandemic in Italy, the restrictions and the restart yesterday were at the center of the speech of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, who during the ceremony at the Quirinale for the exchange of greetings with the representatives of the institutions spoke of a time that “remains difficult, in the alternation of hopes and new alarms. There is a need for clarity and loyalty as indispensable premises of a full and common assumption of responsibility in the face of the risks that are still before us. We have seen how clarity, in the face of the harshness of the pandemic, has wiped out the time of fictions, of distractions. All this seemed to me to be an extraordinary sign of maturity and seriousness “, continued the President of the Republic.
“The season of reconstruction – added the Head of State – also presents itself as a season of duties. Duties also spontaneously assumed by our fellow citizens, whom I would like to thank once again. We have understood that the Republic is both institutions and communities. community needs its democratic institutions to defend itself, to translate its values into reality, to open the way to the future “.
In Mattarella’s words, there is also a warning to the press on the media prominence given to the no vax requests: “The first defense against the virus – the president underlined – was the trust of the vast majority of Italians in science and medicine. alongside that in the institutions, with the substantial, orderly adherence to what is indicated in the various phases of the emergency by the managers, at the various levels. conduct of almost all Italians “.
But what could the measures be? While waiting for the control room, the debate lights up: spotlights on the hypothesis of buffers for vaccinated people in crowded places and major events and on the duration of the Green pass. But some experts are also calling for mandatory vaccination and a lockdown for no vaxes.
“The vaccination obligation creates further division while the obligation for workers could be an element on which there is already an agreement and an element that means greatly expanding the audience of those who must be vaccinated” against Covid 19, he tells the Adnkronos Health the virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco, professor of the University of Milan. “Even from the point of view of a check – underlines the expert – it would be a more effective measure because then with the generalized obligation”, recalls the virologist, “it is not that you can go and get people and get them vaccinated”. It all boils down to a fine and “with a fine against a convinced no-vax – comments Pregliasco who has repeatedly confronted the diehards – do you know what you are doing with it?
“In these days I hear the most disparate theses, such as putting the mandatory tampons to go to the stadium even for those who have received three doses of the vaccine. They are all cosmetic measures” he says. Matteo Bassetti, head of infectious diseases at the San Martino hospital in Genoa, spoke at ‘Rotocalco 264’ on Cusano Italia Tv. “The only measure that should be taken urgently would be to make the vaccine mandatory, taking advantage of these two weeks of closure of the schools to vaccinate those who are not yet vaccinated. After that, everyone should be given the opportunity to vaccinate themselves in open structures without a reservation and say that from 10 January those who are not vaccinated will pay a fine “.
And to Adnkronos Salute he explains: “There is a much more harmful virus out there than Omicron, that of the panic that has attacked many colleagues, journalists and laymen. Terrorism and catastrophism are a danger, like panic, because they can lead to bad decisions. I hope Draghi keeps the bar straight on Thursday. “
For the vaccination obligation also Massimo Andreoni, head of infectious disease at the Tor Vergata Polyclinic in Rome and scientific director of the Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases (Simit). “What is happening in other European countries is very alarming and the feeling is that this variant is frightening – he says to Adnkronos Salute – The Imperial College of London has confirmed that the Omicron variant raises several questions and further clarifications are needed. as Minister Speranza reiterated, great attention, but I believe that we must also anticipate the impact of Omicron on hospitals. So the time has come to move from advice and recommendations to obligations, starting with the vaccination one that I supported from the beginning of the pandemic “.
On the various hypotheses of measures that the government could evaluate in the control room scheduled for Thursday, “many of those circulating in the press can have an impact, we are about to enter a critical moment that will see families reunite and there will be greater circulation of people. – Andreoni warns – therefore inevitably there will be a situation of greater risk of contagion. Many measures, such as the vaccination obligation itself, must be taken by politics but it seems clear to me that now obligations must also be highlighted, for example at Christmas think about a maximum of 6 people at the table and preferably all vaccinated with the third dose; bring the mask outdoors and absolutely avoid crowding situations “.
“I am for the vaccination obligation” against Covid-19, even more so in this phase of the emergency, with the Omicron variant running and the Christmas holidays that will multiply the chances of contagion. She remains firm on the idea that it is necessary to make anti-Covid immunization mandatory Maria Rita Gismondo, director of the laboratory of clinical microbiology, virology and diagnostics of bioemergencies at the Sacco hospital in Milan. “I think – he declares to Adnkronos Salute – of a vaccination obligation that should apply from 40 years upwards and for the frail of every age group”.
For Massimo Galli, former director of Infectious diseases at the Sacco hospital in Milan, “if things continue to go as they are going, with the worsening of the pandemic data, it would be worth considering the decision, which other countries are already taking, of a lockdown for non vaccinated “. “It is an option that must be considered – he tells Adnkronos Salute – And this should also serve as an incentive for the vaccination of diehards, or at least those who are so out of fear or ignorance. Not those who are so because of an ideological position because, in this case, they do not move from their point of view “.
As for the green certification, “it may be worthwhile to review the duration of the Green pass, for a prospective reduction to 6 months. But at the same time it is necessary to observe what will happen in the next few weeks with the Omicron variant. The data will clarify the ideas a lot. in this regard, also in terms of the measures to be taken. A possible reduction in the duration of the green certificate is in any case an idea that has its own logic, also to speed up vaccination “.
“A 15-day lockdown immediately for the unvaccinated? I would also be quite in favor. I was going to say neutral, but I think: they are better than the others. Also to help adhere to the vaccine” he stresses Massimo Clementi, director of the Laboratory of Microbiology and Virology of the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University of Milan. “The generalized vaccination obligation from 40 years upwards could also be the alternative – he reasons – but it is the same thing in the end because it is aimed at those who have not had the vaccine so far. So the audience is the same”.
The virologist Guido Silvestri, a professor at Emory University in Atlanta, observes that “Covid for fully vaccinated people has a lethality now similar if not lower than that of the flu, while the constant media panic and the continuing threat of new restrictions – moreover in a situation in to which we have a sixth of the deaths and a quarter of those hospitalized in intensive care compared to last year these days – it is doing enormous damage both on a socio-economic and psychological level “.
“We strongly push for the vaccination of the 5-11 years old, which I highly recommend – says Silvestri – and we accelerate with the third doses of vaccine (the so-called ‘booster’), patiently and calmly explaining to the population why vaccines are our atomic against the virus. Paxlovid), and we do everything possible to increase the capacity and operation of the hospital system, quickly and without skimping on resources “.
Source-www.adnkronos.com