Rome – A year after COVID-19 attacked Italy, more than half of the country’s residents had to be back under heavy blockade restrictions from Monday 15 March, at least until Easter. Restrictions tighten in response to further rise in number of cases: Italy enters third wave coronavirus infections.
Speaking at a vaccination center near Rome Fiumicino airport, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said “measures are needed to prevent deterioration that would make even stricter measures inevitable.”
He promised that they would be accompanied, however, by financial support for families and businesses, “as well as the acceleration of the vaccine program, which alone gives hope for the exit of the pandemic.”
MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP / Getty
Italy was the first country in the world to implement a national closure last winter, when it was the nation at the epicenter of the pandemic. Since then, the disease has been blamed for the deaths of more than 100,000 people in the country, but only weeks ago he seemed to be bouncing, albeit cautiously.
The national vaccination rate is low: only 8% of Italians have had at least one first shot, compared to about 19% in the US
Italians are tired and frustrated with the delay. The country’s inoculation campaign began in late December, but like other European countries it has suffered delays in the distribution process.
This week, the country banned the use of a specific batch of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine after reporting the deaths of several people in Sicily shortly after receiving it. However, there is no evidence that the vaccine caused their death.
Concerns about blood clots in people who have had the widely used AstraZeneca feature have caused pauses similar to its use in a handful of other countries, but both European officials and vaccine manufacturers insist there is no evidence of a link between the vaccine and blood clotting.