COVID-19: Italy hits target of fully vaccinating 80% of people over-12s

COVID-19: Italy hits target of fully vaccinating 80% of people over-12s

by Joseph Anthony
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Demonstrators clash with police officers during a protest against the government’s introduction of the “Green Pass” near Chigi Palace in Rome, Italy

Italy reached the target of fully vaccinating 80% of the population over the age of 12 against COVID-19, according to official data, achieving a goal Rome had set as a safety cut-off point, government data showed on Sunday.

According to a government website showed 43,229,551 people over-12, out of a total population of around 60 million, had completed their vaccination cycle as of Oct 10.
The 80% target was set by special commissioner for the COVID emergency, Army General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, in March and was hit late on Oct. 9.
โ€œThatโ€™s a critical level above which experts say โ€“ and the trend weโ€™ve been recording for weeks confirms this โ€“ that the risk of hospitalisation is drastically reducedโ€, the commissionerโ€™s office said.
Guido Rasi, a former director at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and current advisor to Figliuolo, said it was โ€œnot just a symbolic thresholdโ€.
โ€œItโ€™s a level that, calculations show, correlates with a significant reduction in the circulation of the virus and a drastic cut in hospital admissions.โ€
Rasi added that reducing the number of hospital admissions was essential for Italyโ€™s economic recovery and to help the national health care system refocus on non-COVID related services.
However, reaching the 80% target is not sufficient, according to the commissionerโ€™s advisor.
โ€œWe will have to continue to reach other thresholds: either percentages above 80% if we continue to refrain from vaccinating children under the age of 12, or 80% of the entire population, including 5 to 12-year-oldsโ€, he said.
Hospitalisations for COVID in Italy have been steadily declining since early summer.
Italy has registered 131,274 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.7 million cases to date.
REUTERS

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