Unvaccinated Italians over 50 banned from work starting Tuesday

All Italian citizens over 50 who have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus or received a medical exemption from vaccination will not be allowed to access their workplaces starting Tuesday. The measure was adopted by the cabinet following the mandatory vaccination rule introduced in Italy for citizens over 50 in early January. Starting Tuesday, all employees in the aforementioned category will have to present a "reinforced" green pass proving a full vaccination course or recovery from Covid-19.

Unvaccinated workers will thus face wage cuts for the period of absence, as well as fines of up to 1,500 euros ($1,700). According to the latest data from the office of the Commissioner for the Covid-19 Emergency, Italy currently has around 1.4 million unvaccinated citizens in this age category, of whom only 10% have medical exemption certificates. Up to 800,000 of them do not have a permanent job or are retired. Thus, the work ban may affect about half a million Italians. To date, over 90% of the Italian population have received at least one shot of a vaccine against Covid-19, and over 88% have been fully vaccinated.