The coronavirus jab will be mandatory for all people over the age of 50 as of 15 June, the Council of Ministers decided.

According to a recent decision in Italy, all employees must be inoculated or must have recovered from the coronavirus infection to be allowed to work. Furthermore the vaccine mandate is also being extended to all residents of the country over the age of 50.

“We want to curb the spread of the coronavirus and persuade Italians to take the jab. Today’s measures are intended to preserve the proper operation of hospitals and to prevent any further restrictions,” Prime Minister Mario Draghi said. He emphasized that the decision also serves the well-being of the age group whose health is most at risk of being adversely impacted by the coronavirus.

According to the decree, “in order to protect public health and maintain adequate conditions of protection, Italian and other EU citizens over the age of 50 with permanent residency in the state must be vaccinated against coronavirus.”

The so-called Green Pass, which can be obtained following a negative Covid test, recovery from the illness or having received two doses of the vaccine, is also needed to access various services.

A decision has also been taken on keeping schools open. If two or more cases of coronavirus are found in a class, the whole class will be quarantined for 10 days. If only one case is found, all children will be required to have an antigen test, which is to be repeated five days later.

“Common sense prevailed and we decided to give the vaccination campaign another boost. Now we have even more weapons to fight the Omicron variant and protect the economy. The decision taken today means we can avoid closures,” Deputy Interior Minister Carlo Sibilia wrote on his social media page.