“Right, we are no longer in an emergency” – breaking latest news

The breaking points between the previous and the current government do not lie only in the composition of the majority or in the new names of some ministries. A first turning point with respect to the line held up to now close also in terms of health. The new Minister of Health Orazio Schillacirector of the University of Tor Vergata since 2019 and appointed the following year in the scientific committee of the Higher Institute of Health, announced a progressive return to normalcy
. Starting from the return to work even before the deadline of 31 December (established by the current regulations) of the medical staff suspended because they had refused to comply with the vaccination obligation. a provision is being defined which will allow reintegration into service of the aforementioned personnel before the expiry date of the suspension, we read in a note from the ministry.

The reaction of the Orders

A choice destined to arouse criticism from the opposition and above all from a part of the scientific community, which does not tolerate openly no vax colleagues. But the minister’s choice, in Bergamo, was welcomed both by the Order of Surgeons and Dentists, and by that of the Nursing Professions. The obligations justify themselves when there is a real emergency situation, not absolutely, comments the president of the Order of Doctors Guido Marinoni, who claims the importance of the vaccination obligation when it was introduced. We were in a phase of full pandemic – he continues -, there was a twofold need: protect health workers, for their own good and to ensure that they could continue to treat the sick, and protect citizens, to contain the spread of the infection and prevent the pressure on emergency rooms from blocking the activity of hospitals. A year later, however, the pandemic entered a different phase: Currently the scenario has changed – adds Marinoni -. The considerations made by the minister seem to me to be of absolute common sense, from a practical point of view the time seems ripe to me. Also because the bureaucratic burden on orders must be considered compared to the actual number of suspended professionals. Out of 6 thousand subscribers, about sixty are currently suspended. Small numbers, whether these people return to work or not, I think it has little effect.

The handful of nurses who have chosen to oppose, up to now, the vaccine against Covid are slightly more substantial. To date they are 135 suspended persons – explains the president of the Order of Nursing Professions, Gianluca Solitro -. I agree with what Marinoni said. The end of the compulsory vaccination set in December and then we are in a completely different phase than in the past. It doesn’t have to pass the message that vaccination, for those who have joined the campaign, it was a joke.

The reasons for the choice

Solitro, while welcoming Schillaci’s appointment as minister (a health worker, someone who speaks our language is welcome, comments), shows greater skepticism than the motives used to justify this turn. The note from the Ministry of Health mentions the worrying shortage of medical and health personnel reported by the heads of the health and territorial structures. In reality, for Solitro this measure does not have a significant impact. The number of those suspended not such as to make a difference. Right now a little breath of fresh air, but it doesn’t solve the problem. The lack of personnel would cost years of lack of investment: The pandemic has made clear the need to strengthen the territorial network, the hospital should remain the place for emergencies, for the high intensity of care. If that were the case, we would have solved the problem of our health. Without human resources the system does not work: the national federation of nurses estimated, with the activation of the NRP, a shortage of nearly 100,000 nurses to be redistributed in the various regions. But it is not enough to increase the number of places in universities, we must start from the attractiveness of the profession. In the paths there must be an economic adjustment of salaries and the possibility of career development.

The masks knot

Another programmatic announcement to mark the path of the gradual return to normalcy, six months after the suspension of the state of emergency, the suspension of the daily publication of the bulletin of the data relating to the spread of the epidemic, hospitalizations and deaths, which will now be announced on a weekly basis, communicates the note from the ministry. Also, Monday, October 31, 2022 the obligation to wear the mask in health facilities or RSA will expire, effect of the last order signed by the former minister Roberto Speranza. In closed or crowded environments I would continue to keep the mask, Marinoni warns. In hospitals and where there are fragile people already worn, I think there will be greater attention – echoes Solitro -. It is necessary to evaluate how much the use of the mask affects prevention.

It also calls for caution Mirko Tassinari, provincial secretary of the Italian Federation of General Practitioners (Fimmg): The absence of an obligation does not translate into a prohibition. In a healthcare facility, clinic or environment where I can potentially come into contact with viruses, I would wear a mask to protect myself and those around me. Both as an operator and as a user.