10 December 2021
On November 24, 2021, the Italian Council of Ministers approved a law decree introducing urgent measures to contain the COVID-19 epidemic and allow economic and social activities to be carried out safely.
The rules implemented to contain the “fourth wave” of the Sars-Cov2 pandemics include the following:
- introducing the third dose as a requirement to prove vaccination status;
- extending vaccine obligation to some new categories;
- implementing the Super Green Pass;
- strengthening vaccination checks and promotion campaigns.
VACCINE OBLIGATION AND EXTENSION
Under the law decree, starting from December 15, 2021, the third dose will be mandatory for, and vaccine obligation will be extended to, the following categories:
- health administrative staff;
- teachers and school administrative staff;
- armed forces;
- other defence staff (police, traffic wardens, customs officers, penitentiary police, coastguards and forestry corps) and fire and rescue service staff.
SUPER GREEN PASS
The validity of the Green Pass has been reduced from 12 to 9 months.
The Green Pass obligation has been extended to the following sectors:
- hotels;
- locker rooms for sporting activities;
- regional and interregional rail transport;
- local public transport.
Furthermore, the Super Green Pass will be required:
- in the white zone from December 6, 2021, to January 15, 2022;
- in the yellow zone from December 6, 2021;
- in the orange zone from December 6, 2021: “in the orange zone, no restrictions or limitations will apply, but activities will only be allowed for Super Green Pass holders”.
The Super Green Pass will be in effect starting December 6, 2021; it will be granted only to people who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID.
The new Green Certificate will be required for the following activities and events, which would otherwise be subject to restrictions in the yellow zone:
- shows;
- sports events;
- indoor dining;
- parties and discos;
- public ceremonies.
The Green Pass obligation will not apply to children aged under 12.
STRENGTHENING CHECKS AND PROMOTING VACCINATION
The law decree provides for strengthening of controls by the Prefectures, which will be required to implement a provincial plan for carrying out constant checks within 5 days of the entry into force of the text and draw up weekly reports to be sent to the Ministry of the Interior.
The communication campaign in favour of vaccination will be ramped up.
The Government has taken, and intends to take, administrative measures aimed at boosting vaccination – for example, the waiting time for third doses has been cut to 5 months.
