Unvaccinated over-50s suspended from work

Unvaccinated over-50s suspended from work from today

Coronavirus News

The Covid mandate for unvaccinated over-50s started today, 15th February. Employers and workers face heavy fines if caught in violation of Italy’s latest Super Green Pass rules.

The Italian government is escalating its campaign against the unvaccinated with further Super Green Pass rules.

The compulsory vaccine mandate applies to everyone in Italy aged 50 or over. Unvaccinated workers are to be suspended without pay and employees who go to work without the Super Green Pass risk fines of between €600 and €1,500.

The digital certificate is needed to access restaurants, bars, cinemas, theatres, night clubs, stadiums and public transport in Italy.

The basic Green Pass can be obtained by a negative covid test. It remains a requirement for Italy’s workers under the age of 50. It is also required for a wide range of activities and services from banks and post offices to hairdressers and tobacconists.

Unvaccinated over-50s rules in place until 15th June

Italy’s vaccine mandate is one of the strictest in Europe. There are still approximately 1.4 million people unvaccinated over-50s in Italy. At the start of February the government also introduced a €100 fine for over-50s who are not vaccinated.

Health minister Roberto Speranza said on Italian TV on Sunday that the decision to make vaccinations compulsory for the over-50s was “correct and courageous”. He said, “We must still insist on vaccinations.”

“We must try in every way to reduce the number of unvaccinated people”, deputy health minister Andrea Costa said on Sunday, adding that it is the unvaccinated “who mainly occupy intensive care units”.

Related article: Green Pass validity unlimited after booster

Meanwhile, Walter Ricciardi, the coronavirus advisor to the health ministry, told La Repubblica newspaper the over-50s vaccine mandate and the Green Pass “must be maintained for all of 2022.”

The Green Pass system along with vaccinations “must become the two pillars of the new normal”, said Ricciardi. “If we remove them we are at risk. It would be the third time we make the same mistake.”

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