A nurse prepares a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine (illustration).
-
Carlos Lemos / EFE / SIPA
The mayor of the village of Corleone (Sicily) announced on Sunday that he was resigning from his post.
The elected official had created a scandal after being vaccinated against Covid-19 without being a priority.
"I spent a sleepless night thinking about this decision and concluded that it was right that I resign," Nicolo Nicolosi, 78, told
ANSA
news
agency
.
"Even if I insist on the fact that I made the right choice by getting vaccinated as well as the municipal councilors", he added.
Are elected officials “front-line workers”?
Police are currently investigating the elected official and other members of his council, Italian media reported on Saturday.
The case was reported to the local prosecutor's office.
On Facebook, the city of Corleone confirmed that its mayor had received two doses of the vaccine in January.
Italy began its vaccination campaign at the end of December.
The first doses were reserved for caregivers and people over 80 years old.
But Nicolo Nicolosi argued that local politicians like him also needed immediate protection from the coronavirus, as frontline workers serving citizens.
Some 5.3 million doses of the vaccine have already been administered in Italy and 1.6 million people have received two injections, according to the Ministry of Health.
The new head of government Mario Draghi has made it a priority to speed up the distribution of vaccines in order to contain the pandemic which has killed nearly 100,000 people in the country.
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Italy
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