Review the rules starting with those on the green pass, with stricter measures for the unvaccinated, and push on the third dose as quickly as possible. The Regions insist on the need for a change of pace in the fight against Covid and ask for a “very urgent reflection” with the government in light of the increase in cases, to save Christmas and avoid the restrictions and closures envisaged for the yellow and especially orange areas . A request that the government says it is willing to accept “shortly”, perhaps as early as Monday, even if the line of Palazzo Chigi does not change at the moment: the only measures on the table are the extension of the obligation of the third dose to health personnel and the reduction of the duration of the green certificate, measures that the Council of Ministers is expected to discuss at its meeting next Thursday. “The lockdown for the no vax is not the subject of a decision” assures Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio. Lega leader Matteo Salvini echoes him: “Draghi is right: the issue is not on the agenda, we are not in the situation of Austria and Germany because we have almost 90% coverage of first doses”.
The pressing of the Regions for the super green pass
From the Conference of Regions comes the “double track” line that has already emerged in recent days: a super green pass only for the vaccinated and the recovered, to be able to go to restaurants, cinemas, theaters, museums, stadiums or to ski in regions that change color , and another also obtainable with the pad, to work. A line that is not actually shared unanimously, as confirmed by the words of the president of Marche Francesco Acquaroli (“further restrictions are not useful, they would create other tensions and divisions between those who are vaccinated and those who are not”) and whose feasibility is all to verify.
Orange nightmare at Christmas
The Regions, however, as the president of the Conference Massimiliano Fedriga says, “are worried” about the worsening of the curve and “the repercussions that this situation could have on economic recovery and social activities, a few weeks before the Christmas holidays”. The nightmare, in essence, is to see the orange zone spring up close to Christmas, with closures of bars and restaurants and unsustainable restrictions from an economic and social point of view.
Obligation to wear a mask outdoors in Sicily
And that is why the governors are already running to the restart, with local measures such as the one ordered by the president of Sicily Nello Musumeci: a buffer for anyone arriving from Great Britain and Germany and an obligation to wear a mask even outdoors in particularly crowded places. “Any kind of closure must be avoided in every way, it would be devastating for our country” confirms Attilio Fontana. Not only that: for days the regions have been denouncing the suffering of the health systems, in terms of arrears to be disposed of and above all liquidity, with the Covid emergency which in 2021 has already cost 2 billion more than the amount allocated by the government.
The caution of Palazzo Chigi
The Minister for Regional Affairs Mariastella Gelmini responds to the Regions, after having talked about it with Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Health Minister Roberto Speranza: “The government is obviously willing to put a discussion table on the agenda soon.” The meeting could already take place on Monday but in the meantime executive sources reiterate that beyond the obligation of the third dose for health professionals and the reduction of the duration of the pass – from 12 to 9 months, even if someone would like to reduce it to 6 – there will be other interventions in the near future, although Germany is also moving towards stricter restrictions on no vaxes.