Accelerate with third doses and vaccinate children between 5 and 11 years from December, as soon as Ema and Aifa are approved.
These are the two paths chosen by the government to counter the resurgence of infections from Covid-19 and avoid that there is an impact on health facilities. If this is the case, the Christmas we are going to meet will be "like the others before Covid". If, on the other hand, the hospitalizations go up, "the measures will take place in the territories, based on the color system".
Health Minister Roberto Speranza explained this after yesterday in Italy the two million third doses administered were exceeded. The phase we are experiencing, he explains, is "a resurgence of the virus, even at a European level". It is true that Italy currently enjoys some advantage over other countries and continues on the strategy outlined, with a "successful" vaccination campaign, close to 90% of first doses, with the Green pass and prevention measures and safety such as masks and spacing.
But we need to push on booster doses and start vaccinating children right away. For that “my wish is December - Speranza told Corriere - as soon as the EMA has approved the vaccine and Aifa has given the green light for Italy. Scientists are saying Pfizer's one-third dose is effective and safe. We will work with pediatricians to reassure families ”. There are 3.2 million Italian children in that age bracket: "If between 12 and 19 we have reached 70%, for the little ones we must reach at least 50%".
As for the recalls, six months after the second dose it is "appropriate to favor the third for the largest possible audience". To vaccinate under 30 "we will get there", says the minister, for whom "already administering the third dose over the age of 40 or 50 would be an important step".
ITALIA BIANCA - Meanwhile, the intensive and hospitalizations in the medical area, even if the national rate rises to 4% and 5.3%, are far from the critical thresholds of 10 and 15% of employment. Even if the incidence in 13 Regions is above the critical threshold of 50 per 100 thousand inhabitants with the highest values in the PA of Bolzano with 189 and in Friuli Venezia Giulia with 139.6. On the other side of the Channel, Great Britain sees the turning point: it shortens the recall period, from 6 to 5 months, for the over 50s, to make it faster and mitigate the progressive reduction of immunity, and looks with enthusiasm at the arrival of the antiviral in Merck pill.
VACCINES - "Thanks to the measures and now to the vaccines - says the Director General of Prevention of the Ministry of Health, Giovanni Rezza - we have avoided the great wave, the one that would have saturated the hospitals, would have congested them, would have caused many deaths not only because of the Covid directly ". The Delta variant has certainly complicated things in recent months of the vaccination campaign with its increased contagiousness.
For vaccines, their effectiveness "remains high" against deaths and hospitalizations, while Delta has decreased protection from infection. According to the Higher Institute of Health, they are 91% effective in preventing hospitalization, 95% for hospitalization in intensive care, and 91% for deaths, with the prevalent delta variant, while the effectiveness of prevention from infection is 75% with the Delta variant compared to 89% during the epidemic phase with the prevailing Alpha variant. The highest incidence of cases always remains in the unvaccinated.
(Unioneonline / D)
VIDEO: