“If there is a difficulty it should not be discussed in a newspaper. It would be enough to ask for a meeting with the councilor or the company health director “
Valle d’Aosta will probably be the last region in Italy to pass into the white zone. In your opinion, is this situation linked to the delay with which the third wave developed in the Valley or to national responsibilities that penalize us?
“We asked to review the number of positives per 100,000 inhabitants which is penalizing for us, but unfortunately it was not implemented at the central level. The proposal was passed to the National Health Commission, but not at the level of the Ministry and Council of Ministers. This condition continues to be penalizing for us. If we have to comply with the rule of three weeks with less than 50 positives per 100,000 inhabitants, we will be late. We have recently been under 50 ».
The ordinances of the president of the Lavevaz region somewhat alleviate the consequences of the restrictive measures
«Definitely yes, with the measures taken, the differences between the yellow and white areas are minimal. The commercial activities are open, the restaurants are open and with the next ordinances we will try to further expand the possibilities of using the facilities. From this point of view, I think that our economy will not suffer that much, but we are sorry to have to suffer decisions always linked to our small numbers. Let’s look at the positives in recent days: we had 8 or 9, but one day having 18 – a cluster that goes almost unnoticed in other regions – is enough to make us rise above 50 ».
Speaking of clusters: we have a particular territory with small countries that are difficult to control and where it is easier to transgress restrictions. How much could this situation have penalized the trend of infections?
«In small businesses it takes very little to cross the thresholds. As with all statistics, large numbers come out and small ones concentrate. Not to trivialize, but a conscript party with a positive guy is enough to get the numbers up. From an epidemiological point of view this is of little concern because the real litmus test of the health trend is the burden on health services and our hospital load is good. Unfortunately, national regulations are difficult to be compatible with our reality ».
Let’s talk about vaccinations. Some pharmacies report critical issues which they say exist only in Valle d’Aosta, in particular on the restricted age group to which it is possible to administer the anti Covid vaccine.
“I have never received a report of this kind. Arrangements for vaccinations in pharmacies have been made by putting the various options on the scales. As a healthcare we have no problem expanding the audience of those who can be vaccinated, indeed the more people are vaccinated the better. At this time an attempt has been made to assign a range of healthy patients to pharmacies, but there are no foreclosures ».
However, few pharmacies have joined. In Aosta only one.
«I think a problem that pharmacies have is the difficulty in organizing vaccinations and finding staff. Someone solved it and others did not, but the problem of age groups was not reported to me by anyone. In my opinion it is a problem not a problem. We are a small community and just talk to each other. If there is a difficulty it should not be discussed in a newspaper. It would be enough to ask for a meeting with the councilor or the company health director ».
Last summer the contagion curve decreased, then in the autumn it rose again. Now we are near summer again and the curve goes down again: is it thanks to the vaccines or to the season?
«As in all things, I believe that the truth lies somewhere in between: the epidemiological trend follows a seasonality to which the vaccination campaign is added. I think the decline in positivity and above all the drop in hospital admissions is partly linked to the epidemiological trend and partly to the vaccination campaign. The latter alone is not the solution and for a while it will be associated with behavior and distancing rules, as far as possible. I don’t think “free all” can fully safeguard us right now. Vaccinated people can become ill again, but the severity of the disease is significantly and significantly reduced. Basically what interests us is the reduction of mortality and not overloading health services. The vaccine is helping us to transform a pathology with high mortality into a pathology with a mortality equivalent to a flu ».
Marco Camilli
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