Rome – One year after COVID-19 hit Italy, more than half of the country’s population should be put under restraining restrictions from Monday, March 15, at least until Easter. Restrictions tighten in response to another increase in the number of cases – Italy enters a third wave of coronavirus infections.
At a vaccination center near Rome’s Fiumicino airport, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said “measures are needed to prevent damage that would make even stricter measures inevitable.”
He promised, however, that they would be accompanied by financial support for families and businesses, “as well as the acceleration of the vaccination program, which alone offers hope for a way out of the pandemic.”
MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP / Getty
Italy was the first country in the world to implement a nationwide blockade 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 a few weeks ago he seemed to turn back, though cautiously.
The national vaccination rate is low: only 8% of Italians had at least one first shot, compared to about 19% in the US
The Italians are tired and frustrated by the delay. The country’s inoculation campaign began in late December, but, like other European nations, suffered delays in the distribution process.
This week, the country banned the use of a specific batch of Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of several people in Sicily who died shortly after receiving it. However, there was no evidence that the vaccine caused their deaths.
Concerns about blood clots In the case of people who have been widely used, AstraZeneca has caused breaks 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.