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A man receives a dose of Moderna’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, a day before broader Green Pass restrictions come into effect, where Italians will need proof of immunity to access a range of services and leisure activities, at the Music Auditorium in Rome, Italy, August 5, 2021. REUTERS / Guglielmo Mangiapane
MILAN, Oct. 10 (Reuters) – Italy has reached the goal of fully vaccinating 80% of the population over 12 years of age against COVID-19, according to official data, reaching a target that Rome had set itself as safety threshold, according to the government data showed Sunday.
According to a government website, 43,229,551 people over the age of 12, out of a total population of around 60 million, had completed their vaccination cycles as of October 10.
The 80% target was set by the Special Commissioner for the COVID Emergency, Army General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, in March and was reached late on October 9.
“This is a critical level above which experts say – and the trend we have been recording for weeks confirms this – that the risk of hospitalization is significantly reduced,” said the commissioner’s office.
Guido Rasi, former director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and current adviser to Figliuolo, said it was “not just a symbolic threshold”.
“This is a level which, according to calculations, correlates with a significant reduction in the circulation of the virus and a drastic reduction in hospitalizations.”
Rasi added that reducing the number of hospital admissions was essential for Italy’s economic recovery and to help the national health system refocus on non-COVID-related services.
However, reaching the 80% target is not enough, according to the commissioner’s advisor.
“We will have to continue to reach other thresholds: either percentages greater than 80% if we continue to abstain from vaccinating children under 12, or 80% of the entire population, including the 5 at age 12, “he said. .
Hospitalizations for COVID in Italy have been falling steadily since the start of the summer.
Italy has recorded 131,274 COVID-19-related deaths since its outbreak in February last year, the second-highest death toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth in the world. The country has reported 4.7 million cases to date.
Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Emilio Parodi, edited by Gianluca Semeraro and Raissa Kasolowsky
Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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