With the fourth wave underway, the risk of greater restrictions returns. Thanks to vaccines, the pressure on hospitals is still under control but Friuli Venezia Giulia and Alto Adige – where hospitalizations are exceeding or are very close to the first alert thresholds – by the end of the month they risk being the first two territories to end up in the yellow zone and therefore to raise the mask even outdoors as well as having to reduce the capacities of cinemas, theaters and stadiums.
The pressure of the governors
Yellow and even more orange are scary. It is no coincidence that the governors, especially the center-right ones, have unleashed the offensive on the Austrian model. They ask that the restrictions related to the possible passage of color of a Region apply only to the unvaccinated, on the model of the hard lockdown decided by Vienna for those without immunization. The Government is holding back for the moment: “no close on the Austrian model is being studied”, explain sources from Palazzo Chigi, underlining that the contagion data in Italy are not comparable to those of Austria, that the situation in intensive care to date is under control and monitoring of data continues, with an evaluation expected in December.
Third dose obligation for health professionals
But to avoid an escalation of the virus, the Government could accelerate measures to save Christmas from new lockdowns (last year Italy turned orange and red in those days) by anticipating the virus with a new provision on Covid that should see the light already this week (or at most next). And which will provide for the extension of the vaccination obligation for health professionals and staff working in the RSA: it will therefore also concern the third dose after the one relating to the first vaccination cycle.
Towards cutting the duration of the green pass to 9 months
But, with the aim of speeding up the third doses (which proceed quite slowly at the average of 130 thousand daily administrations), the provision could also contain the extension of the obligation to show the green pass in restaurants and at work in 2022 (yes speculates until June). As well as the cut of the duration of the green certificate. The goal is to reduce it from 12 to 9 months. Moreover, the data published by the ISS push in this direction, confirming the decrease in protection offered by the vaccine after six months, with the associated need to carry out a third dose as early as 6 months after the last injection. According to a table published in the latest ISS report, after 180 days the protection from infection (i.e. from contagion) drops to 50.2% (before 6 months it is on average 75.7%), while protection from ” severe disease “which again after 6 months is 82.1% (before 91.8%).
Changes to the study on pads for the green pass
For now, the hypothesis of excluding tampons tout court from the green certificate remains in the background. But the hypothesis of resorting only to molecular tests remains in the field, more efficient than rapid ones which lose up to 30% of positives. This is driven by Walter Ricciardi, consultant to the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza, who insists on reviewing the method of issuing the Green pass, excluding the antigenic pad “not suitable for this epidemic phase”. A possible mediation is to keep the swab fast, but to halve its duration: from 48 to 24 hours.