Despite the strikes in the ports of Trieste and Genoa, opponents of the mandatory nature of this certificate are unable to block the country
I’ve already booked the tests at the pharmacy. I will have to do two or three each week. Let us hope that this government will fall as soon as possible or that they will remove the obligation at the end of the year, when the state of emergency ends. Pietro, a father of a family and an official of a ministry in Rome, does not like to be called ‘anti-vaccines’. He assures that he is only against the serum against the coronavirus, because “it is not sufficiently proven.” Without wanting to go into scientific reasons, he presents himself as “a victim” more of the obligation that all workers in Italy have since this Friday to present the covid passport at their jobs. If they do not do so, they can be fined between 600 and 1,500 euros and be suspended from salary.
The first day this measure came into force, launched by Mario Draghi’s Executive to promote the vaccination campaign, passed with relative calm. Despite the threats from the groups opposed to this certificate that they were going to stop the country, the day passed without major incidents beyond the blockades at the entrances to the ports of Trieste and Genoa, organized by stevedores who set up pickets, and of a protest rally at the Circo Massimo in Rome. The march, in which hundreds of people participated without masks and without respecting the safety distance, was peaceful, unlike last Saturday, which ended with the devastation of the headquarters of the CGIL, the main union in Italy.
At the concentration in Rome, a group of women even gave flowers to the agents who were watching so that the violent incidents would not be repeated. “It is a symbolic gesture of peace,” commented the protesters as they handed the roses to the police. From the box, the convenor of the protest, a lawyer named Edoardo Polacco who has become a figure of reference for opponents of the covid passport, kept repeating: “We are the people, we are democracy!”
Despite the noise of the protests, most Italians have been vaccinated with relief and see no problem in applying for a covid passport to work, go to the movies, board a plane or dine inside a restaurant. More than 80% of those over 12 years of age have already completed the guideline. This percentage will grow because, in recent weeks, the reserves to receive the injection have increased by 40%. «I can understand that there are people who are afraid of getting vaccinated, but those who think like that have two options: either isolate themselves from society or take a test every two days to be sure they are not infecting anyone, says Alessandro. This self-employed in his 40s rejects the claim of some groups that it is the State or the companies for which they work that bear the cost of the tests.
Salvini’s criticism
The Draghi Executive refuses to allow the tests to be free due to the disincentive that it would be for the vaccination campaign, in addition to the expense it would entail for the public coffers. Although his party is part of the coalition that supports the Executive, Matteo Salvini, leader of the League, does not agree with the requirement of all workers for a covid passport. “We are one of the most vaccinated countries in the world. But unfortunately the compulsory certificate to go to work is only Italian. So either everyone is making a mistake or we are exaggerating, ”said Salvini, who is increasingly uncomfortable in the government coalition.
The leader of the League hopes that within a month or, at most, at the end of the year, the requirement of the covid passport will be “shelved”, because “excluding millions of Italians from the world of work I do not think is correct.”
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