Italy’s mandatory “covid pass” for citizens has sparked protests and a petition to abolish it. The Italian government is now seeking to suspend the law, which requires people to carry an ID card with their photo and other personal information.
The protest in milan today is a protest that has been happening in Italy for the past few days.
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On Thursday, an employee at an optical store in Rome showed her Green Pass. Credit… Reuters/Guglielmo Mangiapane
On Friday, Italy raised the bar for major Western democracies trying to move past the epidemic by enacting a broad legislation requiring all employees, public and private, to have government-issued health permits.
Before returning to workplaces, schools, hospitals, or other work locations, employees must provide evidence of immunization, a negative quick swab test, or recent recovery from Covid-19.
Those who do not have a Green Pass, as Italy’s health card is known, must take unpaid leave under the new regulations. Employers will be responsible for validating certifications, which will be done mostly via a smartphone app. Noncompliance may result in penalties of up to 1,500 euros ($1,760).
In promoting vaccine requirements, the legislation goes farther than laws in other European nations or the United States, which have become key — and contentious — elements of government efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
With the move, Italy, which was the first democracy to quarantine communities and impose nationwide lockdowns, has crossed a new barrier, signaling that it is ready to utilize the state’s immense power to attempt to contain the epidemic and get its economy going again.
President Biden has urged private businesses to demand coronavirus vaccines for their employees, urging them to take the lead while his attempt to compel 80 million U.S. workers to receive the injection, which he announced in September, goes through a long rule-making process.
China, which has completely immunized over one billion people, has no reservations about taking a tougher stance on vaccinations. Authorities in at least 12 Chinese cities warned citizens in August that unvaccinated individuals may face punishment if discovered to be spreading epidemics.
Democratically elected administrations, on the other hand, must strike a compromise between public health requirements and concerns about civil liberties and political reality. Many Western governments have responded by avoiding national requirements in favor of various methods of encouraging, coaxing, and even slightly coercing individuals to be vaccinated.
The broad national mandate has sparked protests among hard-core holdouts in Italy, where more than 80% of individuals over the age of 12 are already completely vaccinated against Covid.
Protests erupted in Italy’s main towns and ports by late afternoon. However, unlike a large protest of 10,000 vaccination doubters last weekend that was hijacked by right-wing extremists, they had only drawn a fraction of the crowds that opponents of the health bill had hoped for. They appeared to emphasize that the Green Pass had become an accepted part of Italian society.
The legislation has also encountered no significant legal challenges, and Prime Minister Mario Draghi and his administration are confident that the courts will not postpone or overturn it.
Italy has now adopted Europe’s most daring stance. President Emmanuel Macron of France has attempted to make life difficult for unvaccinated individuals by demanding a health permit to access restaurants and long-distance rail travel, for example, while only mandating vaccinations for a few critical employees.
Italy has already imposed stringent restrictions for health care professionals and teachers, which resulted in substantially higher immunization rates in those groups. However, in order to reach the most resistant unvaccinated employees – an estimated 3.5 million individuals — the government has adopted one of the most strident policies in the Western world.
Government officials claim that the policy is already working, claiming that more than 500,000 previously hesitant individuals have been vaccinated since the government revealed its plan last month – much more than anticipated.
In June, in Venice, a cruise ship staff member was positive with the coronavirus. Credit… Getty Images/Marco Sabadin/Agence France-Presse
On Friday, the St. Elena Pharmacy in a middle-class Rome neighborhood had only been open for about an hour, but its proprietors had already completed 15 coronavirus swabs, with many more appointments scheduled in the hours and days ahead.
“It’s been hectic,” Anna Laura Pellegrini, a pharmacist, said after an arduous conversation with a client who wanted an 8 a.m. appointment for a swab on Monday so she could get to work on time, despite the pharmacy’s opening hour of 8:30 a.m.
Ms. Pellegrini answered the phone. She told the caller, “You have to be patient.”
She told a reporter, “It’s been a shambles.”
The new requirement that all employees obtain a health permit imposed by the Italian government does not imply that they must be vaccinated. To remain in their employment, workers may undergo coronavirus swab testing many times a week.
While the number of swabs may be a financial hardship for employees, it may also be a logistical challenge for the testing system, which is already suffering a backlog.
“The bomb went off today,” Andrea Marinoni, Ms. Pellegrini’s son and a pharmacist, said, adding that individuals without appointments had been queuing up even before the drugstore opened.
He predicted that next week will be more busier. “On Monday, the real pandemonium will begin,” he warned, adding that the pharmacy had already begun to record reservations “every three minutes.”
Maurizio Landini, the leader of the country’s biggest union, has raised concerns that employees would not only be unable to pay the frequent swabs, but will also be unable to schedule one.
The government has stood strong on the Green Pass requirement, citing the fact that vaccinations are free, and has left it up to employees or their employers to pay for swab testing.
Alessia Barberini, a classical dance instructor, was pondering how she would pay for three swabs a week, each costing about $20. She is hesitant to receive a second dosage of the Pfizer vaccination after having a terrible response to the first. She said that she was “quite pleased” to have been vaccinated, but that she was also “extremely frightened.”
She said she felt as if she had slipped through the cracks in the health-care system since the alternatives available to her, such as attempting another vaccination in a hospital environment after many tests, made her uncomfortable. She said, “I believed in the vaccination.” “I’m puzzled now.”
Giving unvaccinated individuals free swab tests, according to Italy’s labor minister Andrea Orlando, would reduce the motivation for them to become vaccinated.
“Making the swab free implies that individuals who received a vaccination made a mistake,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
On Friday, a worker in Genoa, Italy, had his Green Pass verified before entering his job. Credit… Reuters/Massimo Pinca
Nicola Andreuzzi was one of the first Italians to take part in what became one of the most widespread Covid vaccination requirements in the Western world on Friday, when the Italian government mandated that all employees, public and private, present their health permit to go to work.
He presented his health permit to a manager at 5:10 a.m. at a warehouse outside Rome, bowed his head so his supervisor could check his temperature, and then proceeded to downtown Rome to fix graffiti-covered walls in Trilussa Square. He said he trusted the government’s decision to require employees to get the vaccination.
After sandblasting a wall clean, he remarked, “If they order me to construct a wall, I’m going to teach them how to do it.” “However, if the experts make vaccination mandatory, I will believe them.”
Workers and employees lined up in front of office buildings and industries throughout the nation to have their so-called Green Passes examined. On their smartphone, the majority of people utilize applications. Some contained codes that could be scanned on paper prints.
For many workers at the ILVA steel plant in Taranto, the morning shift started late because there were not enough entrances or controls to process the more than 8,000 personnel, according to unions.
The government’s strategy was already producing benefits in certain areas.
Katia Steinhaus, a 28-year-old unvaccinated beautician, got up at 7 a.m. on Friday to be the first in line for a swab test before heading to work. However, the thought of having to do a swab test every two days convinced her to face her fears and obtain a vaccination injection, which she claimed she would schedule that night.
She said, “Work is the most essential thing in life.” “I’m at a loss for words.”
Employees had to show their Green Pass and fill out a document confirming that they had not had any recent contact with anybody who had Covid in Turin, where queues gathered in front of the main court.
On Friday, an employee of Trenitalia, the Italian railway operator, showed her Green Pass at the Trenitalia headquarters in Rome. Credit… Associated Press/Andrew Medichini
Because she didn’t have a Green Pass, one barista at I Dolci di Checco, a café in Rome, didn’t show up for work on Friday morning.
Arguments for and against vaccination mirrored those going place throughout the city inside the café.
As he poured milk fluff into a cappuccino, another bartender, Maxim Turcan, 31, remarked, “I believe no one should be compelled to receive a vaccination.” His employer has known he is vaccinated for some time and did not verify his Green Card on Friday. “In a democracy, everyone should be able to make their own decisions.”
Before going to the workplace, Paola Marmo, a 73-year-old psychotherapist, stood at the counter.
“What sort of liberty do I have if I send other people to an intensive-care unit?” she questioned. Ms. Marmo, like other medical professionals, was forced to be vaccinated months ago, and she said she supported the requirement being extended to everyone. “Vaccines should be given to everyone.”
A baker named Matteo Talamini consented, despite the fact that he was carrying pounds of butter for morning pastries. He said, “I don’t see another option.” “It’s in everyone’s best interests.”
The requirement was, if anything, too late for those who presented their Green Pass on Friday.
Maria Tisalita, a maid whose boss demanded to see her Green Card, claimed her unvaccinated sister died two weeks earlier from the coronavirus.
“I believe she would have lived if she had been vaccinated,” she added. Nonetheless, she believes immunization should be a personal decision rather than something that is “forced upon you.”
On Friday, dockers and port employees gathered at Trieste’s port for a protest. Ansa, courtesy of Afp – Getty Images
In protest against Italy’s new health pass requirement for all employees, port workers in the northeastern coastal city of Trieste, one of the country’s biggest shipping and transport hubs, assembled on Friday to block vehicles and workers from obtaining entrance to the port.
In a telephone conversation, Sandi Volk, a union representative, stated, “We are simply here calmly standing before the gate.” “On the interior, there are just a few employees.”
Mr. Volk, who has been vaccinated, claimed that on Friday, more than 600 of the port’s 1,000 employees protested the Green Pass. Trieste’s port employees are believed to be unvaccinated at a rate of 40%, the highest of any port.
Coronavirus tests are now needed every two days for unvaccinated employees, and “some businesses have agreed to pay us back for the swabs,” he added. “Until the government cancels it, we will not give up.”
The administration has given no indication that it would take such action.
Some logistics firms in Trieste agreed to pay for the swab testing after negotiating with the port employees’ unions. Other minor unions, on the other hand, rejected the idea and chose not to show up for work, resulting in a reduction in the port’s operations.
Officials said, however, that the interruption was minor.
“The port is operational,” Friuli Venezia Giulia President Massimiliano Fedriga told the Italian news station SkyTg24. “Obviously, there will be challenges and a reduction in capacity in certain sectors, but it will work.”
On Friday, around 200 employees attempted to create havoc in the port of Genoa, in northern Italy, where nearly 20% of the roughly 12,000 workers are unvaccinated. Two of the entrances were blocked by protestors.
“We are not opposed to the Green Pass in and of itself,” José Nivoi, a head of the USB autonomous union in Genoa, stated. “However, we want the businesses to pay for all port employees to get tested, as well as a testing center within the port.”
During a Green Pass demonstration in Rome on Wednesday, a legislative debate on public order took place. Before accessing government facilities, lawmakers and officials must must present a Green Pass. Credit… Shutterstock/EPA/Claudio Peri
Government officials and politicians were not excluded when Italy’s national mandate went into effect.
Officials needed a valid Green Pass to access all government facilities, including the magnificent Palazzo Montecitorio, where the lower house of Parliament meets, and the Chigi Palace, where the council of ministers meets.
But Gianluigi Paragone, a right-wing senator who has said that he would never join the senate with a Green Card, was not having it. Instead, on Friday, he went to Trieste to take part in a demonstration against the new policy.
He was one of a tiny group of lawmakers who were outraged by the government’s demand and pushed the police to implement it.
Unvaccinated councilor Davide Barillari of Rome’s Lazio region camped out at his office before the rule took effect at midnight on Friday, avoiding having to undergo a coronavirus test before entering the premises.
Mr. Barillari stated in a video broadcast from his office at midnight, “Oct. 15, 2021: History books will remember this day as the day of humiliation.”
Mr. Barillari is a former member of the Five Star Movement, an anti-establishment party that rose to power in 2018 in part due to its promotion of vaccination skepticism.
On Friday, he added, “I’m waiting for the cops to tell me I can’t remain in my office and work any longer.”
Mr. Barillari gained notoriety last summer after posting a video in which he held a pistol at his shoulder — which he said was a fake gun — and claimed that receiving the Covid vaccination was “Russian roulette.”
On Friday morning, he shared another video with Sara Cunial, a former Five Star legislator who he said was “occupying” the Lazio regional council offices.
Ms. Cunial said, “Resist to Exist.”
During a White House event on Thursday, President Biden gave an update on his administration’s Covid response and vaccination campaign. Credit… The New York Times/David Mills
Frustrated that tens of millions of Americans remain unvaccinated despite widespread access to vaccines, President Biden has used the full force of his presidency to force two-thirds of American workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, even going so far as to mandate vaccination or weekly testing for all companies with more than 100 employees.
Shots are also required for health-care professionals, government contractors, and most federal employees, who may face disciplinary action if they refuse.
When Mr. Biden unveiled the steps in September, he added, “We’ve been patient.” “However, our patience is running out. And it has cost us everything because of your unwillingness.”
The measures must go through an interagency review procedure, which may take weeks, before they can put into effect.
Meanwhile, vaccination mandates are encountering increasing opposition from state officials who reject such requirements and other pandemic limitations. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order prohibiting private businesses from requiring coronavirus vaccinations. In Florida, Leon County, which contains Tallahassee, was penalized for breaking a statutory prohibition on “vaccine passports.”
Positions on mandates, like so many other elements of the epidemic, have been engulfed in fierce party politics, and state and municipal responses vary greatly.
California’s governor announced the nation’s first statewide Covid-19 vaccination requirement for students, stating that they would be forced to be vaccinated against the coronavirus by the autumn of next year in order to attend public and private schools in the state.
The coronavirus vaccination joins other inoculations, such as those for measles and mumps, that are needed for roughly seven million children to attend K-12 schools in person, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decree. Only when the Food and Drug Administration gives complete clearance to a vaccine for those age groups will the requirement apply to seventh through 12th grades, and then kindergarten through sixth grades.
New York imposed a vaccination requirement for over 650,000 hospital and nursing care employees, sparking a flurry of lawsuits from nurses and others seeking exemptions throughout the state.
According to early state statistics, the vaccination rate among home health workers in New York was about 86 percent as a deadline approached last week, surpassing the expectations of some union and industry officials and indicating that thousands may have decided to get vaccinated at the last minute.
However, according to the state’s assessment of home health care companies, at least 34,000 employees seemed to have missed the deadline to be vaccinated under the requirement, leaving them unable to work and exacerbating the industry’s labor crisis.
Last month, a server at a Paris café checked a health permit. Credit… The New York Times’ Dmitry Kostyukov
BRUSSELS, BELGIAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPU On the same day that Italy implemented Europe’s most severe vaccination mandates, a patchwork of measures throughout the continent reflect local politics and possible resistance to such restrictions.
More than a dozen of the European Union’s 27 nations now need some kind of Covid permit to access indoor public places, major events, or long-distance travel, as authorities try to encourage more people to get vaccinated and avoid future outbreaks.
Slovenia started requiring most workers to show a vaccination certificate, evidence of recovery from Covid-19, or a negative coronavirus test result at least once a week last month, in a measure identical to Italy’s. Customers visiting grocery stores, pharmacies, and emergency medical services are excluded, however since the measures were implemented, the total vaccination rate for adults has risen from 45 percent to nearly 58 percent.
Vaccinations are required for health professionals in France, which began charging unvaccinated individuals for Covid-19 tests on Friday. More than 3,000 employees who have not been vaccinated have been suspended.
A health permit is also needed to sit in restaurants, bars, and cafés, as well as to visit cultural institutions like museums, theaters, and music halls, and to attend sporting events. Similar restrictions are in place in Austria, Cyprus, the Netherlands, and Portugal, and on Friday, the Brussels area of Belgium started implementing a “Covid Safe Ticket.”
In Germany and Greece, a health permit is also required for anyone working in the hotel industry.
The regulations have sparked some resistance, notably huge demonstrations in France this summer, where anti-vaccine attitudes are rampant. However, since the announcement, millions of people have been vaccinated, and public resistance has decreased.
Other EU nations have removed similar requirements as immunization rates have increased. The need for a digital certificate or a negative test to eat in restaurants was removed last month in Portugal, where 86 percent of individuals are completely vaccinated. Last month, officials in Denmark, where 75% of the population is properly vaccinated, ceased requiring a Covid permit in nightclubs.
Further east, the situation is quite different. Most Eastern European countries do not need Covid-19 certifications to access public areas, despite increasing new cases, hospitalizations, and fatalities.
Most governments in the area have almost completely lifted their coronavirus limitations this summer, and there is little likelihood that they would enact additional measures due to popular outrage.
Vessela Tcherneva, deputy director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, stated, “I don’t see governments in Eastern Europe implementing vaccination incentives or mandates.” “It would be much too politically charged.”
Slovenia is an exception, where officials claim that a health permit is the only option to “keep life regular.”
“The only other option,” Health Minister Janez Poklukar told reporters last week, “was a complete lockdown, which none of us can fathom, which none of us desire, and which we as a community cannot afford.”
In July, I was vaccinated at a vaccination facility in Seoul. Credit… Associated Press/Ahn Young-Joon
Vaccines are widely believed to be the only route out of the epidemic in Asia. When a vaccination facility in Tokyo provided 200 walk-in injections for young people earlier this month, aspirants lined up from the early hours of the morning, and the line stretched for blocks.
When vaccines were made available to individuals in their 50s in South Korea, approximately 10 million people concurrently logged on to a government website to sign up for injections. The system, which was intended to handle up to 300,000 queries per second, was down for a short period.
People in impoverished countries who had their lives upended by prolonged lockdowns felt compelled to be vaccinated.
“If I get ill, I don’t get paid,” said Arisman, 35, a motorbike taxi driver in Jakarta, Indonesia, who had his second Sinovac vaccination injection in July since his work required him to interact with a large number of people. “I don’t get paid if I don’t work.”
As the United States and Europe stepped up their Covid immunization efforts, countries in the Asia-Pacific region, long renowned for their pandemic response, struggled to get theirs off the ground. Many of those laggards are now catching up, raising expectations for a return to normalcy in countries that have been subjected to frequent lockdowns and onerous restrictions.
There are still risks, since most nations do not produce their own vaccines and may suffer supply issues if their governments allow boosters. And the spread in Southeast Asia has been sluggish and inconsistent. However, for most of the area, the change has been dramatic.
This is partly due to the fact that vaccinations have never been a divisive topic in Asia-Pacific.
Despite the fact that each nation has had to deal with its own anti-vaccine groups, they have all been tiny. They have never benefitted from an environment that allows disinformation to influence the public — friendly media, lobbying organizations, and politicians.
Overall, most Asians have faith in their governments to do the right thing, and they are ready to sacrifice their own liberties for the sake of the society.
According to Tikki Pangestu, a co-chair of the Asia-Pacific Immunization Coalition, a body that evaluates Covid-19 vaccine readiness, the absence of social safety nets in many Asian nations also pushed many governments to roll out the vaccines rapidly.
“At the end of the day,” he added, “if they don’t do it, societal unrest would ensue, which is the last thing they want.”
In February 2020, a famous arch and plaza in Milan were virtually deserted as Italy became the epicenter of Europe’s coronavirus epidemic. Credit… The New York Times’ Andrea Mantovani
Italy was the first country in the West to impose a curfew.
The world was fascinated in late January 2020, in the early weeks of the coronavirus epidemic, when China shut down an entire metropolis to attempt to control the spread. Wuhan, a metropolis of 11 million people, was where the virus was originally discovered.
It was difficult to conceive such a thing occurring in the West, but Italy did exactly that in early March 2020, when it shut down cities and then regions in Lombardy and Veneto.
It was a premonition of what life will be like across the world in the not-too-distant future. Movement and gathering restrictions were ultimately imposed throughout the country, with individuals only permitted to leave the house for work and to collect necessities.
The curfew was in place for three months. The nation was able to turn the situation around by July 2020, thanks to diligence and hard-won medical knowledge.
However, Italy was severely affected by the epidemic, with almost 130,000 fatalities, many of them in the early days. And the March 2020 lockdown was just the beginning.
The Italian government imposed additional limitations a year after the order was issued, with Prime Minister Mario Draghi warning of a “new wave of infection” caused by more virulent strains of the virus.
The streets were once again vacant, schools and restaurants were closed, and Easter services were canceled in Rome, where life had resumed with the removal of previous restrictions.
The lockdown was ultimately removed as well. However, Italy, which was chastised early in the epidemic for not acting faster to control the virus, now seems eager to stay ahead of it.
Over the summer, the government announced that individuals who wished to engage in specific social activities, such as indoor eating, visiting museums, and watching performances, would have to provide evidence of vaccination or a recent negative test.
It was a toe in the water of epidemic prevention, in the manner of the day.
Italy has now joined the club.
Last weekend, there was a protest in Rome against the Green Pass. Credit… Getty Images/Tiziana Fabi/Agence France-Presse
On Friday, the new demand that employees in Italy show a health card in order to get paid threatened to spark demonstrations throughout the nation.
Last Saturday, a 10,000-strong protest against the so-called Green Pass was hijacked by right-wing extremists and became violent, raising concerns about weak police and forcing Italy to confront its fascist past once again.
The violent post-fascist organization Forza Nuova attempted to distract the march by attacking the offices of the country’s biggest labor union, which was trashed, partially inspired by the January assault on the US Capitol building.
Under a cloud of tear gas and the spray of water cannons, protesters fought with police officers. Approximately a dozen radicals were detained, and almost 40 police were wounded.
One of the robbers removed his shirt, revealing an eagle tattoo linked with fascist activities on his back. Others barged inside a hospital and attacked a nurse. The demonstrations became so dangerous that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was in Rome to see Pope Francis, was forced to leave a Mass at a neighboring church.
“They intended to reach the institutions,” stated a judge who issued arrest warrants for Forza Nuova members. Ashli Babbitt, the lady murdered in the attack on the US Capitol, has been dubbed “the first heroine of the American people’s revolution” by Roberto Fiore, one of the group’s founders.
Images of fascists assaulting police officers and shattering the windows of a left-wing workers’ union were a chilling reminder of fascist assaults on Communist organizations that helped bring Mussolini to power a century ago. The actions drew widespread criticism from people of all political stripes.
A 30,000-member Telegram group called “No Green Pass, We’ll Win Together” has discussed a future “war” as well as strikes and sickouts.
Last weekend, Italy’s interior minister admitted that something went wrong, and Italian authorities vowed that inspections would be considerably stricter on Friday.
The Democratic Party submitted a resolution in Parliament to dissolve neofascist organizations, claiming that it was past time for Italy to “stop ambiguity regarding fascism.” Concerned about impending local elections throughout the nation, conservative leaders tried to distance themselves from the violence.
On Tuesday, Mr. Draghi said that the administration was investigating the prospect of disbanding Forza Nuova.
In April 2020, flour is usually supplied on shelves in San Fiorano, Italy. There are concerns that empty shelves may reappear. Credit… via Reuters, Marzio Taniolo
Ernesto Milani, a baker from Rovigo in northern Italy, is dubious about coronavirus vaccinations. He believes they are too experimental and is concerned about the possible negative effects. And he believes that by pushing him to be vaccinated, the Italian government is intruding on his rights.
As a result, his bakery is closed on Friday.
Mr. Milani is closing his bakery in protest of the new rule that everyone who wants to work in Italy must have a health permit that shows evidence of vaccination, a negative coronavirus test, or recent recovery from Covid-19.
He said, “Giving in to the Green Pass is giving in to extortion.”
Mr. Milani, on the other hand, must give in if he wants to work. Prime Minister Mario Draghi has ordered that all employees follow the government’s plan.
Some labor unions and others have cautioned that this may be catastrophic.
In a telephone interview, Ivano Russo, the director general of Italy’s biggest organization of truck drivers, couriers, and logistics operators, said, “We are understandably extremely concerned since almost a third of our work force does not have a Green Pass.”
Twenty-five to thirty percent of Italy’s logistics employees are unvaccinated, and given that Italians have had enough of chances to be vaccinated, they may not want to, he says.
Mr. Russo said, “We need to be realistic.” “We agree that people’s health must be protected, but truck drivers operate alone and may be able to avoid stepping out of their vans or trucks, as they did during the first lockdown.” Imagine a third of the shelves at an Italian supermarket being vacant. That’s a possibility.”
Milanese employees had already planned a strike over the Green Passes. In Rome, the public transportation company, which was already in disarray, admitted that a significant portion of its employees had not been vaccinated. Workers have launched strikes in Trieste and Genoa, two of Italy’s largest ports, demanding that the government pay for their swab tests.
According to José Nivoi, a union leader for Genoa’s port employees, approximately 20% of them are unvaccinated, and the Green Pass will cause divides among them.
“You’re placing thousands of families in a bad situation,” he added.
Last month, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi visited Rome. Credit… Shutterstock/EPA/Fabio Frustaci
Prime Minister Mario Draghi has a reputation for getting things done, having guided Italy out of its darkest days of the epidemic and toward recovery, most recently imposing a requirement for all employees in the nation to carry a health pass.
He notably helped rescue the euro as president of the European Central Bank, saying that he would do “whatever it takes” to keep the European Union’s currency alive. He has had broad support across the political spectrum since becoming Prime Minister in February after a political crisis.
His administration now has the support of the once-powerful populists who used to fuel vaccination doubters.
Matteo Salvini, the hard-right but more moderate League party’s leader, denounced the brutality of demonstrations over the Green Passes last weekend.
Mr. Salvini remains opposed to mandatory vaccinations, but he has expressed gratitude to those who have received them and has confined his political pressure to pushing the government to pay for virus testing for the unvaccinated. To prevent “chaos and firings,” he also wants to prolong the validity of quick swab tests from two to three days.
Beppe Grillo, the founder of the once-powerful Five Star Movement, which earned anti-establishment legitimacy and acclaim in part by promoting vaccination skepticism in general, has likewise confined himself to advocating for free swab testing.
Mr. Draghi has not budge so far, despite his desire to put the health crisis behind him so he can concentrate on Italy’s economic recovery and a once-in-a-generation bailout from the European Union.
Giorgia Meloni, the head of the hard-right Brothers of Italy party, which has remained outside the governing coalition, has attracted a large number of opposition votes. And, with her erstwhile right-wing rivals shackled by the reality of coalition politics and government, she has surged in the polls.
However, last week’s violent demonstrations by fascist organizations during the Green Pass protest placed Ms. Meloni in a difficult position. She had to separate herself from the violence, stating that her party had “no place” for “nostalgia for fascism, racism, or antisemitism.”
The Italy’s Mandatory Covid Pass Prompts Protests is a live update on the recent protests in Italy. Reference: italy vaccine passport for u.s. citizens.
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