Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government looks set to tighten the rules for Italy’s COVID-19 Green Pass health certificate as the fourth wave of coronavirus contagion hits the nation.
Draghi’s cabinet is expected to pass new measures later on Wednesday after a meeting of the government’s ‘control room’ coronavirus task force.
There has been talk of the introduction of a ‘Super Green Pass’, which would only be granted to the vaccinated and those who have recovered form the coronavirus, and would be needed to take part in social, cultural and sporting activities, although not to access work places.
At the moment the Green Pass shows that a person is vaccinated for COVID-19, has recovered from the virus in the last six months, or has tested negative in the last few days.
So it is possible for unvaccinated people to obtain a Green Pass but they need to keep having tests every few days to get a new one.
The Green Pass is currently needed to do a wide variety of activities in Italy, including to access cinemas, theatres and sporting venues, to travel on inter-regional trains and domestic flights, to sit at tables inside bars and restaurants, and to access places of work.
The government may also make vaccination for COVID-19 obligatory for teachers and police officers.
At the moment, health workers are the only group of workers in Italy obliged to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
Furthermore, the government may make having a third COVID vaccine obligatory for health workers.
The new rules are expected to kick in from the start of December.
Photo – A woman wearing a protective mask walks next to an inscription painted on the wall of a building reading in Italian ‘normality’, in Genoa, Italy. EPA-EFE/LUCA ZENNARO
Via ANSA
