The Ministry of Health alerts the Regions to prepare resources to guarantee anti-Covid tampons and vaccines for Ukrainian refugees: “In relation to the current crisis and in anticipation of the consequent migratory phenomena towards our country, please alert the Local Health Authorities for the purpose of identifying and preparing the resources necessary for the execution of diagnostic tests – antigenic gold / nasopharyngeal swabs and molecular for SarsCoV2 infection and the administration of anti-Covid vaccines and other routine vaccinations for this population at risk “. The new ministerial circular indicates this.
The circular ‘Ukraine Crisis – First Indications for Local Health Authorities’ is signed by the director of Prevention of the dicastery Gianni Rezza and by the director of health planning Andrea Urbani. The local health authorities, it says, “must also ensure the necessary surveillance, prevention and vaccination prophylaxis activities also in relation to other infectious diseases”. Attention is also drawn in particular to the “early identification of people with special needs and specific vulnerabilities, such as unaccompanied foreign minors, pregnant women, single-parent families”.
For citizens who come from Ukraine, “regardless of citizenship, without digital Passenger Locator Form or green Covid-19 certification, the territorially competent ASLs will carry out the diagnostic tests within 48 hours of entry, if not at the moment of entry into the national borders “, the circular still provides. All those who will be identified as cases or case contacts (for example at screening in reception points) will be managed according to current legislation.
“It is recommended to offer the SarsCoV2 / Covid-19 vaccination, in accordance with the indications of the National SarsCoV2 Vaccination Plan, to all subjects from 5 years of age who declare that they are not vaccinated or do not have documentation certifying vaccination, including the booster dose for subjects from 12 years of age “. The vaccination, it is specified, “will be regularly registered in the system, assigning applicants an STP code”.
The Ministry of Health also recommends that refugees from Ukraine arriving in Italy also be offered routine vaccinations, reporting “significant problems due to low vaccination coverage in that country and the recent occurrence of epidemic outbreaks, such as the measles epidemic in Italy. 2019 and the polio outbreak that began in 2021 and is still ongoing in the country “. For routine vaccinations, the Ukrainian vaccination calendar, notes the circular, provides for the following vaccinations: Hepatitis B, TB, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Polio, Haemophilus influenzae b, Measles, Mumps, Rubella.