BERGAMO, Italy (AP) – A year ago, Bergamo’s latest pope, John XXIII Hospital, collapsed when doctors struggled to treat 600 patients, with 100 of them in intensive care. Army trucks transported the dead from the city’s overcrowded crematorium, with statues now scorched in the collective pandemic memory.
The picture has now greatly improved: the hospital treats less than 200 virus patients, of whom only a quarter require intensive care.
But still unchanged as Italy’s death toll pushes upwards again, is that the victims remain predominantly elderly, with vaccinations stumbling in the country and elsewhere in Europe..
“No, this thing, alas, I could not protect the elderly, to make clear how important it would be to protect the elderly,” said Dr. Luca Lorini, head of intensive care at the hospital named after the mid-20th, said. century pope born in Bergamo. “If I have ten older than 80 people and they are COVID, eight out of ten in their age group die.”
That was true in the first terrifying wave and in the ensuing peak remained ‘absolutely the same’, he said.
Promises to vaccinate all Italians over the age of 80 by the end of March have come to naught amid well-documented vaccine stock cuts and organizational shortages. Only a third of the 7.3 million doses of Italy administered so far have been received by people in the age group, and more than half of those carrying memories of World War II are still waiting for their first jerk.
“We should have finished with this already,” Lorini told The Associated Press.
The new Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Draghi, promised during a visit to Bergamo on Thursday that the vaccine campaign will be accelerated. His remarks came as he inaugurated a park to honor the country’s more than 104,000 deaths from the pandemic. In early March, two-thirds of Italy’s virus-related deaths were among those over 80; the median age of death from Italy’s pandemic is currently hovering over 80 after rising to 85 last summer.
“We are here to promise our elderly that it will never happen again that fragile people are not adequately helped and protected. In the same way, we will respect those who have left us, ‘Draghi said at the commemoration of the first army convoy carrying the virus dead from Bergamo.
Italy can hope to see its future by looking at Britain, the first country in Europe to approve widespread vaccinations. More than 38% of the UK population has been vaccinated since early December, starting with those over 70, health workers and care staff.
Britain, which leads Europe in virus deaths, has seen the death rate among those over 75 decline from 75% of the total before the vaccination campaign to 64% in the week ending March 5. Deaths across Britain have dropped from an average of 128 a day in the most recent seven-day period, from a high of 1,248 in the week ended January 20 – also thanks to the closure measures.
Along with health workers, Spain, France and Italy have preferred vaccination to residents of nursing homes, by far the one worst hit in the spring. They are responsible for almost a third of the deaths in Italy’s first wave, and a third of the death toll from France almost 91,100.
In France, COVID-19 infections and deaths in nursing homes gradually declined as the number of vaccines climbed, with 85% receiving at least one shot. Early signs are that the proportion of ICU patients aged 75 and older has also started to decline since February, with almost half in this age group being at least partially vaccinated. The improved picture for residents of care homes comes despite a renewed worsening outbreak in France.
Spain saw a huge decrease in infections and deaths in nursing homes, after the first phase of its vaccination program, with a significant decrease in deaths.
In Italy, where vaccinations of residents of old age homes began in January, compared to mid-February for other elderly people, lower infection rates in old age homes are declared an early success.
“We can not consider it a victory of the vaccine strategy,” said Dr. Giovanni Rezza, director of infectious diseases at the Ministry of Health, recently admitted.
On Friday, Draghi said Italy intends to deliver 500,000 shots a day by next month, from a current daily level of about 165,000.
With Italy’s infection rate for the seventh consecutive week driven by the fast-moving British variant, more than 2.5 million Italians over 80 are waiting for their shots. What’s worse, many still have no indication when they can get it.
Luca Fusco has formed a group to remember the deceased and pleads for justice in their memory after his father passed away on March 11, 2020 to COVID-19.
His mother, who celebrated her 83rd birthday on the anniversary of her husband’s death, still did not get an appointment for more than a month to be vaccinated after she submitted a request. Fusco said this was true for most of the hundreds of elderly people in their small town near Bergamo. He added that they had to drive 20 kilometers to get each shot, which was a burden for many.
Italy’s goal is to vaccinate 80% of the population by September, and Draghi has appointed an army general to resume the campaign. Fusco said his group, “Noi Denunceremo,” (“We Will Denounce”) will act as a watchdog over the issue.
“Draghi said we would all be vaccinated by September. Perfect, ”said Fusco. “It simply came to our notice then. If that’s not true, we’ll make our voices heard … and we’ll ask Draghi for explanations. ‘
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Associated Press authors Danica Kirka in London, John Leicester and Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Frank Jordans in Berlin and Samuel Petrequin in Brussels contributed.
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