With 36 thousand cases in 24 hours, a new record of the fourth wave, and the Omicron variant that opens “a new phase” of the pandemic, “every possible precaution” must be taken to stop the virus’ race. Prime Minister Mario Draghi announces the new squeeze that will be decided by the control room and the Council of Ministers in the next few hours: duration of the Green pass reduced to 6 months, booster four months after the second dose, tampons also to vaccinated people for adults events, starting from New Year’s Eve parties, return to smart working. And, above all, compulsory vaccination for other categories of workers up to the possibility of extending the Super green pass to all workplaces. Proposal that, if it were to pass, would not allow the unvaccinated to work.
The line set by the premier
In the meeting at the end of the year with journalists, the premier does not indicate the measures in detail but explains what the guidelines will be along which the government’s action will develop. And above all, it clarifies some fixed points that will be at the basis of the choices. The measures will not take away further spaces of freedom from Italians, on the contrary: the goal is the opposite. “We will do everything necessary to defend what little normality we have achieved”, he repeats several times, listing the spaces to be preserved: no lockdown, not even for the No Vax, school always present and a “satisfying” social life. The other point is that every decision will be “driven by data and data only, not by politics as they say.” The third are vaccines, which remain the “best defense” (with two thirds of ICU patients being No Vax) and have been “essential” to revive the economy, which will grow by over 6%. So getting immunized and taking the third dose are the “priority”. To keep everything together, given the situation and the “storm” coming with Omicron, as the WHO defines it, however, we must act and we must do it quickly, with a package of measures that will intervene in a series of areas.
Masks
A point on which there is substantial agreement between the political forces, also because many regions have already moved on their own, is the obligation to wear a mask outdoors even in the white area. But Draghi says something more: the reasoning is to impose the use of the Ffp2 for all closed places, therefore in workplaces, on public transport but also in cinemas, theaters and restaurants.
Green pass and booster at 4 months
There is also an agreement on a new reduction in the duration of the Green pass: it will be worth 6 months. A decision closely linked to the one that will arrive from AIFA in the next few hours: the advance of the booster from 5 to 4 months and the extension of the third dose also to 12-18 year olds. The certificate, Draghi underlines “has become a bit emphatically an instrument of freedom” and, instead, we have to deal with the drop in vaccine protection after 6 months.
Vaccine and smart working obligation
The prime minister, on the other hand, seems to exclude one of the most controversial issues, the obligation to have a vaccine for everyone, which however “remains in the background”. But at the same time it makes it clear that there will be an extension to other categories “in a very short time” and that there will be a return to massive use of smart working. What are the categories, government sources explain, will be the results of the flash survey to indicate this. If the prevalence of Omicron is above 20% it is likely that the obligation could occur in all workplaces. With lower percentages, however, it could be extended to those who work in contact with the public or to all public employees. But there is also a very strong hypothesis on the table: extending the super green pass to all workplaces to “recover” those 2.3 million Italians between 40 and retirement age who are not vaccinated.