New phase of the vaccination campaign against Covid.
Starting from December 1st, the administration of the third dose will be extended to the range between 40 and 60 years.
The Minister of Health Roberto Speranza makes it known: "With the comparison made, we announce that we are taking a further step forward: from December 1st, even those between 40 and 60 years of age will be called to booster dose. The third dose is absolutely strategic for the campaign vaccination: 83.7% of people have completed the vaccination cycle ".
The recall to date, the minister recalls, has been offered to 2.4 million people including "immunocompromised, frail, sanitary, over 60 and those who have had J&J and who can have the booster after six months".
THE NUMBERS - The decision to expand the audience also to the forty-year-olds adds to the 24 million Italians fully vaccinated up to 50 years of age, another 7 million between the ages of 49 and 40. Currently, the average of third vaccinations is now over 100 thousand per day, growing steadily since September 18 when they were first performed.
In the coming weeks there could be peaks of third vaccinations over the 350,000 mark in 24 hours. At an average of 280/300 thousand per day it would take about 100 days to complete the booster operation, arriving at the end of February-early March. At the moment there are 1.3 million over eighty already with triple dose, 290 thousand the 70 year olds, almost 300 thousand the sixty year olds and 200 thousand the 50 year olds.
THE HEALTHCARE STAFF - During today's control room at Palazzo Chigi, according to what is learned, Speranza made a proposal to extend the vaccination obligation for health professionals also for the third dose.
For the moment, the discussion has only begun in the government, with a view to a subsequent approval of an ad hoc regulation, but no objections to the minister's proposal have been raised in the control room.
THE NEW VACCINE - Meanwhile, Europe is equipping itself with an additional anti-Covid vaccine: thanks to the new contract that the EU commission has stipulated with the French pharmaceutical company Valneva, it will be possible to purchase 27 million doses of the VLA2001 vaccine for 2022.
The contract provides for the possibility of adapting the Valneva vaccine to new variants and allows Member States to order up to 33 million additional doses in 2023. It is the only inactivated anti-Covid virus vaccine in Europe, and consists of inactivated whole viral particles of SarsCoV2.
(Unioneonline / D)
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