2021 is coming to an end. A year of successes and epochal events, but also conflicts and tragedies.
One year, the second, with the whole world engaged in the battle against Covid-19.
A year to be retraced, also in images, through the news of UnioneSarda.it.
Fifth stage: a year of Covid.
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THE PANDEMIC ONE YEAR LATER: THE MONTHS WE WILL NOT FORGET
Hands back a year: it was December 27, 2020, in the hardest days of the pandemic, when Italy was trying to raise its head with V-Day, the start of the vaccination campaign against Covid-19.
The first administrations, thanks to the 9,750 doses of Pfizer arrived in the country, went to the health personnel of the Spallanzani hospital in Rome, then from there the symbolic distribution with the first doses also in other regions already in the day.
In the Italy of the color regions and the curfew of the second Conte government there were then 15 thousand new positives and up to 700 deaths a day. The positivity rate was around 10% and intensive care counted over 2,500 patients.
Hands forward to December 28, 2021: in Italy overwhelmed by the new wave of the Omicron variant, but which under the leadership of the new Draghi government and the most impressive vaccination campaign in history has started to move again, there is a record number of over 78 thousand new cases in one day, however, intensive therapies collect just over a thousand patients, thanks to the administration of over 108 million doses of the vaccine. 48 million Italians have received at least the first administration, over 80% of the population.
But what has happened, in detail, in these 365 days? There are many nodal points of the pandemic, in our country and in the world, starting precisely from those days at the end of 2020. An alternation of fears, hopes, great achievements and harsh protests, and in which Italy has found itself increasingly divided between those who have chosen to get vaccinated and those who, on the other hand, preferred to join the ranks of the "no vax" army, who do not believe in the safety of a vaccine launched quickly and dictated by the emergency.
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NEW YEAR WITH FIREWORK
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On January 1, 2021, Italy celebrates midnight with a curfew . It is the first time since the years of the Second War to date, and many believe that the decision passed by the Conte government and strongly supported by the experts of the Technical Scientific Committee as too restrictive. The rules prohibit moving between Regions and on holidays even between Municipalities. On New Year's Eve, no midnight celebrations, no restaurant dinners, with a curfew that is extended from 10pm on December 31st to 7am on January 1st. The Prime Minister's signature on the new Prime Ministerial Decree will then arrive on January 16, extending the state of emergency until April 30. There will remain a curfew between 10pm and 5am, the obligation to wear a mask outdoors and indoors, and the system for "color bands" assigned to the individual regions. Gyms, swimming pools and cinemas are closed until March 5th. Great controversy over the closure of ski resorts until February 15, then extended to March 5. The vaccination campaign continues with administration first of all to health personnel, teachers and professions considered most at risk, and then to the elderly and in the Rsa, among the realities most affected by the pandemic.
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THE DRAGONS GOVERNMENT AND THE APPOINTMENT OF A CHILD
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It is February 12, 2021 when Mario Draghi is sworn in as Prime Minister. A position strongly desired by the Head of State Mattarella, supported by all political forces and appreciated by Europe and the stock exchanges : only on the day of the oath at the Quirinale did the spread reach 88.6, the lowest level since the beginning of 2015.
For the management of the pandemic Draghi chooses the path of continuity, keeping Roberto Speranza as Minister of Health but identifying in the army general Francesco Paolo Figliuolo the new extraordinary commissioner for the Covid emergency in place of Domenico Arcuri .
Figliuolo is a man with great experience in the field: he was commander of the Armed Forces in Kosovo, commander of the national contingent in Afghanistan. The appointment comes after that of Fabrizio Curcio as the new head of the Civil Protection, who takes over from Angelo Borrelli. Figliuolo will dictate the timing of the campaign according to specific objectives: 500 thousand vaccines a day from the third week of April, to reach 80% of the vaccinated population by September.
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THE ASTRAZENECA CASE
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Among the vaccines that Italy is also targeting for the vaccination campaign is AstraZeneca , identified by the European Medicines Agency among the medicines authorized on the basis of quality, safety and efficacy requirements. However, the product of the Anglo-Swedish company begins to be talked about between February and March for some episodes of withdrawals of lots but above all following the precautionary suspension of its use in numerous European countries. The motivation? Thrombosis and deaths, apparently for no other reason, in subjects, mostly under the age of 60, who received the administration.
On March 15, the Italian Medicines Agency also decided to extend the ban on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine throughout the country as a precautionary measure. Then the announcement in April of the preferential administration to over 60s , and after the evaluations of Ema which considers "plausible" the possibility that the very rare adverse thrombotic events - we are talking about 86 cases with 18 deaths out of a total of over 34 million doses administered - have a causal link with the vaccine. The new Ministry circular will then be launched on 12 June with the recommendation of AstraZeneca and also of Johnson & Johnson to the over 60s, and the indication to proceed with the heterologous administration for those in the lower age groups who have received a first dose of AstraZeneca. The story comes to a definitive clarification on December 3, when a team of scientists from Wales and the US discovers the triggering cause of "killer clots" : a protein in the blood attracted to a key component of the vaccine.
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DELTA VARIANT FEAR
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To obscure the important results of the vaccination campaign, which in the country is proceeding quickly, are the clouds of variants starting from spring which, also due to the important pockets of unvaccinated people in the world, begin to spread in an uncontrolled manner. Above all, the Delta variant is frightening, already present in an important way in Great Britain and which in the country will begin to be talked about between April and May. In June, some outbreaks also break out in Sardinia, such as the one on the set of the film “The Little Mermaid” in Trinità d'Agultu.
The Delta variant, which will arrive in Italy at a prevalence of over 99% at the end of December, is contagious twice as high as that of the traditional strain, and therefore replicates much faster. The question arises about the effectiveness of vaccines against this type of variant, which seems to be confirmed as long as it accelerates with the administration of second doses, so the Italian regions try as much as possible to tighten the time.
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THE GREEN CERTIFICATE ARRIVES
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With the beginning of summer, Italy begins to experiment with the use of the digital green certificate or "green pass", formerly called "vaccination passport", and which becomes substantially mandatory, from 6 August, for many activities. From 1 September it is necessary to access long-distance transport, universities and educational establishments and from 15 October to enter any workplace . From 6 December and at least until 15 January, with the "saving Christmas decree", the further squeeze for non-vaccinated people arrives with the introduction of the super green pass , and therefore limited to those who have completed the double vaccination cycle: vaccinated and cured will therefore be the only ones to be able to access places of socialization such as cinemas, theaters, indoor bars and restaurants, sporting events (therefore also stadiums and arenas) and public ceremonies.
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THE "NO GREEN PASS" AND "NO VAX" MOVEMENT
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It will be precisely the green certifications that will shake up a new protest movement that is spreading in Italy as well as in the world. With a distinction: between "no green pass", or those who are against mandatory certification in particular for the performance of certain professions, and "no vax", or those who are against the vaccine often according to radical and conspiratorial ideas, ranging from hypotheses of hidden designs for population control to those of an underground direction of the "big pharma", the large pharmaceutical groups ready to speculate on the tragedy of the pandemic.
The major protests, after a first revolt by health workers against the vaccine , are unleashed with the announced debut of the mandatory pass in the workplace, and the hottest "squares" will be that of Trieste, animated by dockers , and that of Rome , where the unexpected takes place on Saturday 9 October: the center of the capital is transformed into a theater of urban warfare that culminates in the assault on the CGIL headquarters . The budget will speak of 12 people arrested - among others the leaders of Forza Nuova Giuliano Castellino and Roberto Fiore - and of 38 wounded agents, as well as 600 demonstrators identified and intercepted. The no pass processions will then return to invade the squares of the main Italian cities on weekends, with the Viminale which through an ordinance will impose a ban, from mid-November, of demonstrations in historic centers and close to sensitive objectives, in fact allowing only garrisons and sit-in in authorized areas. There will also be surreal episodes, such as the case that makes Italy discuss the dentist who shows up at the vaccination hub in Biella with a silicone arm .
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THIRD DOSES AND VACCINES FOR CHILDREN
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It is with the month of September that in Italy the most impressive vaccination campaign in history kicks off the third doses , administered first to the extremely fragile and the super elderly and then to the entire population. In Cagliari we start on 27 September at the Brotzu . The indication is that the new recall takes place about six months after the previous one, but many regions are closing in on five .
So from December 16 the turning point: go to vaccines for children even in the age group 5-11 years. In Sardinia the start with an open day in Cagliari and with a good response from many parents. At the end of the year, approximately 170,000 children between 5 and 11 years of age will have already received the first dose. And in the United States, the short-term extension is already being assessed even in the range up to 5 years. The hypothesis of these administrations also in Europe is for the first half of 2022 .
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ALARM VARIANT OMICRON
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With the beginning of December, the alarm goes off for a new variant: this time it is a new strain from South Africa, which according to experts has 32 mutations on the Spike protein, the one that the virus uses to attach itself to human cells and invade them. There are many questions about the clinical picture that the new variant, called Omicron, could cause, and the effectiveness of vaccines: after a few weeks, the protection will be confirmed, in particular against the most serious forms and death, albeit more guaranteed. with the administration of third doses. In Sardinia, the alarm goes off on 6 December , when a positive for the Omicron variant is discovered on a flight to Alghero with 130 passengers who end up in quarantine. The first case in Cagliari is instead registered and made known on 21 December: it is a 50-year-old woman arriving from London. The same day the alarm goes off for two other suspected cases in Sassari .
At the end of December, the assault on the pharmacies for tampons also started, with episodes that degenerate into madness as in the case of the pharmacist who was tested in Perugia .
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THE NEW YEAR'S CLOSE
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On 23 December comes the announcement of the ISS : the Omicron variant is already present in Italy at 28%. The cases are on the rise and the data of the Gimbe Foundation speak for the country as well as for the island of a weekly growth in infections of over 40% . The Government then tries to run for cover in view of the New Year celebrations and launches a series of new measures: the duration of the green pass starting from February 1st will be reduced from nine to six months, with the possibility of carrying out the third "booster" dose of vaccine 4 months after the second dose and starting from 10 January . The masks will also be mandatory outdoors and until January 31st the extension of the reinforced green pass obligation (only for vaccinated and recovered people) is foreseen in the indoor catering sector also at the counter. The extension of the super green pass to swimming pools, gyms, spas and wellness centers, bingo halls is evaluated. Introduced the obligation to wear an Ffp2 mask in cinemas, theaters, public transport, including local ones, and sporting events. In addition, the ban in cinemas, theaters and for indoor sporting events has been banned from consuming food and drinks. No parties in the square for New Year's Eve: events and celebrations that involve gatherings in the open are prohibited until January 31st.
On 29 December, on the day that marks the record of infections since the beginning of the pandemic in Italy and Sardinia (771) with the spread of the new Omicron variant, the new request of the Regions to the Government: end of the quarantine for vaccinated and green pass strengthened for all workers.
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The gallery:
La pandemia un anno dopo, i mesi che non dimenticheremo
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The stages:
December 23 - 2021: sixteen images to tell the world
www.unionesarda.it/news/mondo/2021-un-anno-nel-mondo-per-immagini-tkwt9y0g24 December - Men who kill women: another year of femicides
www.unionesarda.it/news/italia/uomini-che-uccidono-le-donne-un-altro-anno-di-femminicidi-cprrav4bDecember 25 - 2021 crowns Italy, all tricolor triumphs
www.unionesarda.it/sport/il-2021-incorona-litalia-tutti-i-trionfi-tricolori-r5tgoo0xDecember 27 - The long goodbye: those who left us in 2021
www.unionesarda.it/spettacoli/il-lungo-addio-chi-ci-ha-lasciato-nel-corso-del-2021-ufwy6kgeDecember 31 - 2021, what happened in Sardinia
December 31 - The film of 2021: a year in three minutes