The introduction of the 2-G rule for all modes of transport has sparked protests from unvaccinated residents in the lagoon city of Venice as well as on numerous smaller and larger islands in Italy.

Since Monday, the “Super Green Pass” has been required to use all means of transport, including local public transport.

Only vaccinated and convalescents receive this, while the usual “Green Pass” (according to the 3-G rule) is issued even after a negative test result.

For islanders who have not been vaccinated or have not been proven to have recovered from a corona infection, this means that they are stuck on their islets.

Matthias Rüb

Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta based in Rome.

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On the other hand, unvaccinated people can move around relatively freely on the mainland by car, motorcycle or bicycle.

For example, those who want to go to the old town island or to the mainland from Giudecca island in the Venetian lagoon for errands and errands must rely on the “Vaporetto” water bus, which has only been used with a “Super Green Pass” since Monday may.

Reimbursement unlikely

It is estimated that up to 5000 unvaccinated people live on the various islands of the lagoon.

Only around five percent of all residents of the lagoon city have their own boat.

It is unlikely that unvaccinated owners of a monthly and annual ticket for vaporetto transport will be reimbursed part of the costs because they are no longer allowed to use the means of transport.

At a press conference on Monday evening, Prime Minister Mario Draghi defended the 2-G rule for all means of transport and the introduction of a general compulsory vaccination for all people over 50 years of age. "Most of our current problems are caused by unvaccinated people." In addition, two thirds of Covid 19 patients in intensive care units are not vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Venice's mayor had called for an exemption for the islanders of the lagoon. The mayors and provincial presidents of smaller islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea and larger islands such as Elba had also joined this demand. An exemption granted by the Ministry of Health in Rome provides that people with a negative test result can use the water buses in Venice and the ferries between the islands and the mainland until February 10, provided that they do so for work, study or professional reasons .

In Venice meanwhile, private individuals set up a boat service for unvaccinated people in the Giudecca Canal between the offshore island and the old town on Monday.

The Venice transport authorities rejected the demand from unvaccinated people that part of the vaporetto fleet should be allowed to be used with the original “Green Pass” as before.

The old town of Venice is connected to the mainland by a dam and can therefore also be reached or left by car, moped or bicycle - even by those who have not been vaccinated.