ROME (Reuters) – Agostino Airaudo, 86, died of coronavirus on March 21. Ninety minutes earlier he had received an SMS telling him that, after weeks of waiting, he had an appointment for a vaccine.
Ten days later, his 82-year-old wife, Michela, also died of the disease.
Unlike many other European countries, Italy did not give automatic priority to its army of retirees when it launched its inoculation campaign in December, even though they were suffering from the burden of the disease.
The failure to provide faster protection has cost thousands of lives, experts say, and has sparked outrage over a fragmented health system in which regions make most decisions and the central government has struggled to impose a clear strategy.
“People could have been saved,” said Giorgio Airaudo, son of Agostino and Michela, and head of the powerful FIOM metallurgists’ union in the northern region of Piedmont.
“As soon as the vaccines arrived, there was no justification for not giving priority to frail people and the elderly …,” he told Reuters by telephone.
“It simply came to our notice then. The government made suggestions and each region did as it pleased. ”
More than 110,000 people have died of COVID-19 in Italy, the seventh largest number in the world. Their average age was 81, and 86% of them were 70 years old or older, according to data from the national health institute ISS.
Many countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, have first vaccinated the elderly, recognizing their great vulnerability.
The Italian government has also said that over 80s should be given priority, but a random launch has allowed professionals, including lawyers, magistrates and university professors, to move to the top of the queue in many places.
As mortality rates have fallen largely in Europe due to the early impact of vaccines, Italy has remained stubborn, with the average daily number of 431 in the last week being the highest on the continent, according to Reuters.
Acknowledging the issue, Prime Minister Mario Draghi – the epitome of calm measured during his eight-year term as head of the European Central Bank – on Thursday made a passionate request to his Italian colleagues to wait their turn.
“With what conscience does someone jump knowing they are leaving a person over 75 or frail exposed to the real risk of dying?” Draghi told reporters.
“Stop vaccinating people under 60,” he said, raising his voice.
“Death, Pain and Care”
Earlier this year, Italy’s 20 regions focused almost exclusively on protecting health care workers, even those in their 20s without contact with patients. Most places did not start mass vaccinations for more than 80 years until mid-February.
At that stage, France and Germany have already given a first dose to 20% of those over 80 years of age.
Since then, Italy has caught up with the EU average, data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control show that it has hit at least 62% of its over-80s. But only 13.4% of 70-year-olds had a first dose, the lowest rate in Europe after Bulgaria.
Regional governors say they have complied with government guidelines and blame delays in slower-than-expected vaccine deliveries.
They also say they were blinded in January, when the national drug regulator informed that the AstraZeneca / Oxford shot should only be used for those under 55 years of age.
They had planned to offer this blow to the older residents and had to change their strategy. Now, the guidelines have been rotated again with a recommendation that it should be used only for those over 60, after concerns arose that it could cause rare blood clots in young adults.
Matteo Villa, a researcher in the ISPI think tank, says other EU nations facing the same problems have been more agile. His analysis suggests that Italy could have saved 11,900 lives if it had focused more on the elderly.
“The central government did not control the situation and then, surprisingly, many of the regions did not carefully prepare for the launch,” Villa told Reuters.
He said some regions competed to see who could manage the most fires and said it was easier to corral health workers than the elderly.
“This is not a race … This is a situation where there is death, pain and sorrow,” said the head of the Airaudo union.
His parents lived in Piedmont, which is centered on Turin. They both had serious illnesses and had registered with their doctor for the vaccine. An algorithm adopted by the region decides who receives a vaccine and when.
Piedmont health officials did not answer questions about why they did not receive timely shots.
“AN INCREDIBLE MESS”
Adding confusion, each region uses its own reservation system.
Franco Perco, 81, lives in the central Marche region, a hot spot of COVID-19. He is still waiting for an appointment with the vaccine, despite numerous phone calls to helplines and efforts to book online.
“I am just scared. There is no clarity, “said Perco, the former head of one of Italy’s most important national parks. “I’m going out as little as possible.”
According to the constitution, Italian regions have a wide autonomy in decision-making in the field of healthcare, even during a pandemic.
In Tuscany, Abruzzo and Sicily, magistrates and lawyers have been given priority status. In the southern region of Molise, journalists were allowed early vaccination. Loose surveillance in Sicily meant that a priest could vaccinate his congregation regardless of age.
“It simply came to our notice then. It served as a lesson for us to be more careful “, said Angelo Aliquò, general manager of the health agency in the Sicilian city of Ragusa.
Undersecretary of Health Andrea Costa, who took office in February, told Reuters that mistakes had been made in not clearly identifying priority groups.
“There will be time in the future to look at what happened, but now we need to do immunization as soon as possible, which will allow us to return to normal life,” he said.
Furious at the sudden death of both parents, Airaudo hopes there will be an estimate.
“I have always believed that decentralization is about being close to the people. Instead, today we have confusion, difference, injustice and delays, “he said.
Reporting by Crispian Balmer and Angelo Amante; edited by John Stonestreet