A further expansion of the vaccination campaign, with the start of the third dose for 12-15 year olds four months after the completion of the primary cycle. And a greater simplification, through two new measures: the exit from the periods of isolation and quarantine by carrying out quick antigenic swabs in the pharmacy, starting from Monday 10 January, with the cost to be borne by the health service; self-test, from Monday 17 January, with the possibility, in the event of a quick swab performed at home and a positive result, to immediately start the isolation period by recording the test result in a special regional portal, uploading the photo of the result itself, and therefore without waiting for the timing of the healthcare company.
These are the measures that the regional councilor for health policies, Raffaele Donini, spoke about today in a video press conference.
“We are expanding the vaccination campaign and simplifying the procedures to combat the pandemic, in a phase of sharp spike in infections caused by the Omicron variant, trying to make people’s lives and the activities of healthcare companies a little easier. an extraordinary job for two years now – Donini underlines-. I would like to underline the fact that we are the region that, in relation to the population, makes the most molecular swabs in the country, about 25 thousand a day. An important fact, to which there are also many quick swabs, which we want to be processed promptly by the Public Health Departments: this is why we are implementing this agreement with pharmacies, which I thank for the important role they play in the area, for de-bureaucratising the procedures. But we do not stop there: we are the only ones in Italy to activate self-testing, it is an alliance between citizens and public health to reduce the circulation of the virus immediately, allowing the person who should be positive to immediately trigger the ‘isolation. In this way, public health will be relieved and will be able to push the accelerator on vaccinations. In fact, we begin to administer the booster to 12-15 year olds, who will be able to book from tomorrow; those over 50 who have not yet been vaccinated, on the other hand, will be able to show up in vaccination centers and be vaccinated without a reservation: also for this reason, we will strengthen the hubs in the area ”, closes the commissioner.
Rapid test in pharmacy for isolation / quarantine closure
Thanks to the agreement with pharmacy associations, from Monday 10 January in Emilia-Romagna people without Covid 19 symptoms can go to partner pharmacies to perform the rapid nasal antigen test. They will be able to do so as long as they fall within the following cases: to carry out a control screening or, if asymptomatic and in quarantine for having had close contact with a Covid case, to close the quarantine period itself (within 24 hours they will receive automatically from health company the report of the closure of the case and reactivation of the Green pass). If the test is positive for these people, they will be able to carry out the rapid nasal antigen test always in the pharmacy after 10 days for the closure of the isolation period or after 7 days in the case of a person vaccinated with a third dose (booster), which has completed primary school or recovered from Covid, again for less than 4 months.
Swabs performed for quarantine closure or isolation are the responsibility of the Health Service
The agreement with pharmacies also includes a point relating to schools. In fact, first and second grade secondary school students in whose class a COVID case has occurred will be able to do the rapid antigen test, at the request of the general practitioner or pediatrician. In particular, they will be able to take the first test when the presence of a positive is detected and the second test five days after the first. The buffer will be borne by the commissioner.
Self-test: immediate start of the quarantine with self-made quick test
For people who have performed the rapid nasal antigen test at home on their own, in the event of a positive result, there will be the possibility of recording the results of the self-test on a special portal of the Region – active from 17 January -, immediately starting the period of isolation.
In this case, only one of the rapid tests valid in the pharmacy can be used. In addition, people who will be able to use this opportunity will have to fall into the following cases: have already received the second vaccination dose, regardless of the date of administration; have activated the Electronic Health Record (ESF) or, in the case of minors, be associated with the parent’s ESF.
The result will be uploaded by inserting the photo with the test result, the choice of the test used from the list of valid ones, information on the behavior to be followed in the event of symptoms appearing, information on the type of certificate that will be sent on the ESF by the Departments of Public Health.
About 2.5 million people will be able to self-test in Emilia-Romagna, all those who have completed the primary vaccination cycle. In this way it will be impossible to self-test for those who did not want to vaccinate due to contrary to the procedure.
Off to third doses for 12-15 year olds
In Emilia-Romagna, third doses are also available for the 12-15 age group for girls and boys who have completed the primary cycle for at least four months.
It is possible to book from tomorrow, Saturday 8 January. The first administrations will start on Monday 10.
A further expansion, after the third dose for 16-17 year-olds and frail 12-15 year-olds was launched on 27 December.
The new recipients of the ‘booster’ recall are defined by a circular from the Ministry of Health, which was followed by a communication from the Regional Department of Health Policies which clarified additional operational aspects to the Health Authorities.
The vaccine planned for the third booster dose in these categories will be Pfizer Biontech’s Comirnaty.
Reservations are always open through the usual channels: Cup, Cupweb, Cuptel, electronic health records, ER-Health app, farmaCUP; further methods are also envisaged that the health authorities will communicate on their respective territories.