“Avoid Doctor Google, the real doctor decides”

In some regions, such as Lazio, citizens can choose which vaccine to be administered. In others, such as Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy, the decision is taken directly by the local health authorities. But what is better? According to the infectious disease specialist Matteo Bassetti, director of the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the San Martino hospital in Genoa, the choice of the vaccine should be up to the doctors and should be made after a careful medical history of the patient.

“I have always been an enemy of the possibility that people can choose the anti-Covid vaccine, because the vaccine is a choice that is up to the doctor, the only person able to decide after the person’s medical history the most suitable vaccine – he said. the specialist – There may be several factors, a pre-existing disease, or the intake of drugs, which can affect and only the doctor is able to give an answer, certainly not the citizen who may have read on “Dr. Google” or on social networks some unverified information ‘. The opinion of the pharmacologist Silvio Garattini, on the other hand, is different. Speaking of the mix of drugs for the under-60s who received only the first dose of AstraZeneca, he suggested for the recall to be “pragmatic and leave the choice of vaccination coverage “.

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But how does it currently work in Italy? In Lombardy it is possible to choose the place and date of the vaccine, but not the type of drug. In Campania, however, everything is decided by the health company: the date of the appointment and the place are communicated by the Region, and it is not possible to know in advance the type of vaccine that will be administered. In Lazio the situation is different: it is possible to select the preferred vaccination center knowing in advance both the date and the type of drug used, and this allows a great freedom of choice. The regional councilor for health, Alessio D’Amato on this point stated that “transparency is a fundamental weapon in the vaccination campaign. The citizen must know from the beginning which vaccine he is choosing, because we ask for informed consent from the beginning and obviously there is a different consent for a different vaccine ». For D’Amato «the possibility of choice must be given and guaranteed. You cannot be forced to do just one type of vaccine. We have always provided all the vaccines we have, leaving freedom of choice, according to availability. However, the final word is up to the doctor during the medical history. But it is useless to keep them in the refrigerators ».

The freedom of choice, with the possibility of scheduling appointments, has caused some slowdown in the vaccination campaign and, above all, the rush in search of doses of Pfizer and the lack of people willing to make the AstraZeneca vaccine. Hence the decision to organize the open days, up to the suspension of the administration for citizens under the age of 60, according to the recommendations of the AIFA.