Italy’s new government says it will reinstate unvaxxed doctors, cancel fines for COVID jab mandates

Italy’s new health minister announced Friday that doctors and other healthcare workers who refused the COVID-19 injections will be reinstated soon. 

Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said in a press release on Friday that “a measure is being defined which will allow the reintegration into service” of those who were “subject to suspension procedures for non-compliance with the vaccination obligation.” 

Schillaci added that the new government under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will cancel fines imposed on people over 50 years old who refused to comply with the COVID vaccine mandates. 

The previous Italian administration under Mario Draghi’s leadership imposed a vaccine mandate for all people over 50 years old earlier this year, making Italy one of a few European countries to impose a blanket COVID vaccine mandate for residents. 

Refusing the COVID shots led to a suspension from work without pay for healthcare workers, while those aged over 50 faced fines of 100 euros (around 100 USD). 

Schillaci announced a “progressive return to normal” regarding COVID restrictions. The daily bulletin with data such as hospitalizations and deaths will be suspended and replaced by a weekly presentation, the Italian health minister stated. 

A “worrying shortage of medical and health staff” was cited as a reason for the decision to cancel the jab requirements. 

Meloni’s new administration diverges significantly from the policy of the previous government under Mario Draghi, which had implemented one the strictest COVID regimes in Europe. 

Draghi’s government introduced COVID passports, the so-called “Green Pass,” which were a prerequisite for activities such as travel, dining, and shopping. Italian workers were also required to have this Green Pass to access their workplace. Italians who did not comply with the mandate and went to work without proof of vaccination, recovery, or a negative test were suspended without pay and fined up to 1,500 euros. 

Meloni announced in her speech in the Italian parliament last week that she will not inherit the Draghi administration’s restrictive COVID policies. Meloni stressed that despite the strict rules, which were backed by the threat of fines, Italy had one of the highest death and infection rates in the West. “Something clearly didn’t work there, and that’s why I want to say that in no way will we imitate this model,” Meloni stated. 

COVID policy is not the only area where Italy’s new government is going against the Great Reset agenda. A member of the administration announced a plan to raise the cap on cash payments from the current 2,000 to 10,000 euros.