Extend the obligation of green passes in restaurants, at the stadium, on trains and also in the workplace at least until the first half of 2022. Not only to better defend Italians from a possible return of Covid given that infections and hospitalizations are already in slight ascent. But also to try to push the campaign for third doses of the vaccine now open to health professionals, over 80 and recently also to over 60 and finally bring the total of immunized with two doses to the new safety target indicated by Commissioner Figliuolo: 90. % of over 12 vaccinated.
The deadline in two months, the idea of extending it
In two months, at the end of December together with the end of the state of emergency, there is also the expiry of the regulations on the green pass and therefore the obligation to show it where it is required today. For now, nothing has yet been decided, but the arguments that are beginning to be made among the technicians and also in the Government go towards only one direction and that is to extend the life of the green pass also to 2022, at least until the summer. This is for two reasons: the first is that the green pass is a tool that seems to work well in stemming the spread of Covid, as evidenced by what has happened so far in Italy and the fact that several countries, starting from those of Eastern Europe where contagions are rampant, they are thinking of resorting to the green certificate. And then because the extension of the pass obligation has dragged the vaccination campaign which has now reached 86% of the vaccinable population with at least one dose, i.e. 46.5 million Italians over 12. 90% of vaccinated, considered the maximum achievable goal.
The green pass has worked so far
Italy would not be the first country to extend the life of the green certificate. France, the first European country to have introduced it, in fact approved a law in mid-October that allows the government to use the green pass until next 31 July 2022. Compared to the country beyond the Alps, however, Italy has tightened up the obligation of the green certificate extending its use also in the workplace. A clear decision that brought with it a trail of controversy and protests, especially from the no vax world. But in the end the system seems to work, even if some hundreds of thousands of Italians are forced to take a swab every 48 hours in order to access the workplace, as evidenced by the explosion in the number of tests which now fluctuates between 400 every day. and 600 thousand. For now, prices have been controlled at least until the end of December (15 euros on average, 8 euros for under 18s). But he is sure that if the decision to extend the pass requirement arrives, there will be no lack of new controversies.
The certificate to manage the epidemic and push the third doses
But why still extend the use of the green certificate? First of all – this is the first reasoning made – because at the moment it is the best tool to manage the epidemic, guaranteeing almost normality with all open activities: from restaurants to gyms, from stadiums to cinemas, from concerts to ski slopes. And then because the extension of the green pass obligation could help to get the third dose campaign off the ground, which so far is proceeding too slowly and instead are crucial to better protect, especially the categories most at risk, in view of a decrease in efficacy of vaccines starting after 6 months. More than a month after its launch, just over a million third doses have been administered to a first audience – healthcare, over 80 and RSA – which counts at least 7 million. The risk is that the enlargement to the over 60s and then the possible one, but not yet decided, to the rest of the population is a flop. An incentive to make a new injection could come from extending the pass obligation until next summer. For many over 60, who have completed the first vaccination cycle between February and May, the certificate expires after one year and therefore in the next spring. With the obligation of the certificate until the summer there would therefore be one more reason to protect yourself with the third dose.