Rome A year after COVID-19 hit Italy, more than half of the country’s residents would be placed under severe lock-in restrictions from Monday, March 15, at least until Easter. Restrictions tighten in response to further increase in business – Italy enters third wave of coronavirus infections.
At a vaccination center near Rome’s Fiumicino airport, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said the “measures are needed to avoid a deterioration that would make even stricter measures inevitable.”
However, he promised that they would be accompanied by financial support to families and businesses, “as well as the acceleration of the vaccination program, which alone gives hope of leaving the pandemic.”
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Italy was the first country in the world to apply a nationwide exclusion last winter, when it was the center of the pandemic. Since then, the disease has been blamed for the deaths of more than 100,000 people in the country, but only a few weeks ago seems to reflect, though cautiously.
The national vaccination rate is low: only 8% of Italians had at least a first shot, compared to about 19% in the US
Italians get tired and frustrated with the delay. The country’s vaccination campaign started at the end of December, but like other European countries, it experienced delays in the distribution process.
This week, the country banned the use of one specific group of Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine after reports that several people in Sicily died shortly after receiving it. However, there is no evidence that the vaccine caused their death.
Concerns about blood clots people who have used the AstraZeneca shot have caused similar disruptions in a handful of other countries, but both European officials and vaccine manufacturers maintain that there is no evidence of a link between the vaccine and blood clotting.