Covid: unvaccinated doctors return to the ward, but the masks remain

Eventually, the line of free all on Covid passes but up to a certain point. The discontinuity hoped for and invoked by the premier will exist, but not on all the aspects announced. No amnesty, at least for the moment, of the fines for the approximately 1.9 million unvaccinated Italians. But alongside the provisions on justice and raves, the first decree issued by the Meloni government falls the obligation – initially envisaged until 31 December – to vaccinate health professionals. Thus, about four thousand doctors will be able to return to the ward. “The epidemiological picture has changed today, with a limited impact on hospitals”, explained the Minister of Health Orazio Schillaciwho in presenting the measure wanted to recall the importance of vaccines to overcome the pandemic.

The decision, he then reiterated Giorgia Meloni in the press conference after the Council of Ministers, wants to respond to the now chronic shortage of personnel. From the point of view of those who worked on the front line in the fight against the pandemic, however, “it is perplexing, as a doctor who has not been vaccinated is not a good doctor”, he says to the sheet Alessio D’Amato, the councilor for health of Lazio and close to the candidacy to govern the region.

On the use of masks in hospitals and RSA, the Council of Ministers has decided to extend the obligation, despite last week, Minister Schillaci had hinted that the end of the measure was now near. But today, at a press conference, Schillaci explained that “there was no second thoughts”. Certainly the warning from Mattarella – “we cannot yet proclaim the final victory over Covid. Keeping security high ”- and the pressures from the scientific and health world have erased any possible temptation. In addition to this, several regions immediately reacted to the possibility that the government would cancel the obligation of personal protective equipment, manifesting their opposition with autonomous measures.

“The persistence of non-marginal levels of contagion requires caution, especially with respect to patients and vulnerable groups in hospitals and Rsa”, said the governor and commissioner for health of Campania this morning Vincenzo De Luca, inviting the government to rethink also in terms of the vaccination obligation: “It would be unacceptable to force patients who may be enticed to be treated by unvaccinated personnel. Yes, this would be a form of violence against the most vulnerable “, added the president of the region.

Position very similar to that expressed by Letizia Morattiwhich again this morning convened a regional control room on Health in Lombardy, during which the need to use masks in hospitals was reiterated and at the same time “the importance and effectiveness of vaccinations, anti -Covid and anti-flu, for the prevention of infectious diseases, in particular in health workers ”, as said the same vice president and councilor for Welfare of Lombardy.

And Lazio also wanted to send a message to the government, deciding for the extension of the ordinance on sanitary devices well before even Meloni and Schillaci confirmed their use. “Their decision is wise”, comments D’Amato, also in view of the possibility, with the lowering of temperatures, of witnessing a new increase in infections, without forgetting the effects of regional influences. However, “I think that with a preliminary step we would have avoided this ballet”, said the commissioner, saying that he was somewhat “worried” by the health hazards of this center-right. “However, I hope that there can be a greater dialogue with the regions, not only in relation to Covid”, concluded the head of the Lazio Health Authority. He was referring to the energy crisis, which inevitably involves hospitals, and to the broader discussion of resources for the health sector as a whole, when a fruitful relationship between central government and local authorities will be an indispensable condition.