Italy Drops Ban on Unvaccinated

Italian doctors and nurses suspended from work for not being vaccinated against COVID-19 will soon be reinstated, according to new Health Minister Orazio Schillaci.

The newly-elected Italian government will also cancel fines imposed on people aged 50+ who refused to take the experimental shots.

Unvaccinated Italian health workers to be reinstated.https://t.co/ybYtxQ6yZF

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) October 28, 2022

BREAKING: Italy's new right-wing government will be REINSTATING all unvaccinated health care workers.

They are also canceling the fines who were imposed on the people aged 50+ who didn't get vaccinated.

HUGE win for freedom.

— PeterSweden (@PeterSweden7) October 28, 2022

#BREAKING: Italy’s new Health Minister to end the ban on unvaccinated health workers and will cancel fines imposed on people who refused the jab.

— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) October 28, 2022

Reuters reported:

The move is motivated by a worrying shortage of medical personnel together with declining cases of Covid-19. The new government will also cancel fines imposed on all people aged over 50 who had not got vaccinated, he added.

“A measure is being finalised that will allow the reintegration into service of health staff subject to suspension proceedings for non-compliance with compulsory vaccination before the expiry date of the suspension,” he said in a statement posted on the ministry’s website.

Former Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government mandated the COVID-19 shots for teachers and healthcare workers in 2021 and extended that to everyone over 50 in January this year.

Refusals resulted in suspension from work without pay for public employees, while those aged 50+ faced fines of 100 euros.

“Six months after the suspension of the state of emergency and in consideration of the level of COVID-19 contagion, Health Minister Orazio Schillaci considers it necessary to initiate a progressive return to normality in activity and behavior, based on criteria of responsibility and respect for the laws in force,” a statement on the ministry’s website read.

(translated)

Therefore, also based on the prevailing indications in the medical and scientific fields, the daily publication of the bulletin of data relating to the spread of the epidemic, hospitalizations and deaths will be suspended, which will now be announced on a weekly basis, without prejudice to the possibility for the competent authorities to acquire at any time the information necessary to monitor the situation and take the necessary measures.

With regard to health personnel subject to suspension proceedings for non-compliance with the vaccination obligation and the cancellation of the fines provided for by Legislative Decree 44/21, in view of the expiry of the provisions in force on 31 December next and the worrying shortage of medical personnel and reported by the heads of the health and territorial structures, a provision is being defined that will allow the reintegration into service of the aforementioned personnel before the expiry of the suspension.

The Epoch Times added:

Under Speranza and previous Prime Minister Mario Draghi, whose government imploded in the midst of an energy crisis and a worsening economic outlook, all public and private sector workers must get a COVID “green pass” before they go to work. Italians who ignore the order and go to work without proof of vaccination or a negative test or recovery from the virus are suspended on no pay and fined up to 1,500 euros (about $1,500).

The “green pass” policy was considered to be among the most restrictive in Europe. While some European countries have made COVID vaccines mandatory for their health workers, none have implemented a vaccine passport system for all employees.

“We are making these choices in order to restrict the unvaccinated as much as possible, as this is what is causing the burden on our hospital system,” Speranza told media outlets earlier this year.

The new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has vowed to not inherit the Draghi administration’s pandemic response, saying that despite the harsh restrictions placed on millions of citizens, the country nevertheless suffered the highest COVID death and infection rates in Europe.

“Something clearly didn’t work there,” Meloni said Tuesday in her very first speech to parliament as prime minister. “That’s why I want to say that in no way will we imitate this model.”