Vaccines, Omicron effect and Green pass: first and third doses are increasing

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• Omicron, Spallanzani: possible protection with current vaccines

• Vaccines: In Italy 45 million immunized, third doses at 5.8 million

• Palù: today the Aifa Cts decides on the vaccine for under 12s, but there is no urgency

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01 December 2021 In Italy, the anti-Covid vaccination campaign records a leap forward, due to the alarm on the Omicron variant and the strengthened green pass: in one day 32 thousand first doses and about 300 thousand boosters. Gazebos, drive-throughs and doctors return to barracks, squares, exhibition halls and - in Palermo - even to the barber. The input on the strengthening of the vaccination campaign indicated by the Commissioner for the Emergency, Francesco Figliuolo, starts the strengthening of the administration machine, which will have to return to full capacity with peaks of 450 thousand inoculations per day as early as next week. And if the government requires essentially the same numbers as the injections made daily months ago,

which will be made available by the Defense in agreement with the commissioner. Based on availability, further openings of this type of structures will therefore be authorized, starting from Calabria. But it is not the only necessity of the moment: "We need more personnel to be able to vaccinate more", they still say from the territories.   

In fact, driven by fears about the spread of the Omicron variant and after the measures envisaged on the Super Green pass from 6 December,

  The first doses administered in the last 24 hours in Italy were 32,473, a level that had not been there for over a month (21 October), while

with nearly 300,000 (293,177) boosters, reaching 6,237,051. In all, including the 27,000 new people vaccinated (with two doses), the daily doses were 352,683,000, reaching a total of 95,984,088 vaccines administered, equal to 94.3% of the total available to the regions.

The numbers will increase again progressively, after the start of the third dose inoculations also for the over 18s starting from these hours, waiting for the turn of the age group 12-17 to arrive. Then,

. And the government's appeals continue for Italy to win the race against time in this fourth wave. Regarding Omicron "the positive aspect is that it does not seem to evade the tests, so we are still able to diagnose it and presumably, if this works for the tests, it should also work for the vaccine", assures Walter Ricciardi, advisor to the Minister of Health. Roberto Speranza.   

But

, at least in some regions. Among the territories where greater staff support has been requested, there is also Friuli, which has the highest percentage of No vax sanitary ware. "We have had an increase in vaccination requests, but it is clear that we have limits, that is the staff available", says the governor and president of the Conference of Regions, Massimiliano Fedriga - we have a part of staff who have moved away from the activity health care because she has not been vaccinated and we have those who have become infected, despite the double dose, and who are well but are out of order for a few weeks. However, we are greatly strengthening the campaign in all three healthcare companies and the vaccination agendas will be further expanded in the next few days ".Questions on the lack of doctors and nurses were also raised in the Local Health Authorities of Veneto and Piedmont.

Valle d'Aosta has even launched an appeal to doctors, biologists, pharmacists and personnel of the health professions, including obstetricians and physiotherapists, even retired, to give their willingness to carry out the administrations for a few weeks. The councilor for health, Roberto Barmasse, warns: "We are fighting on many fronts with a single army, unfortunately also a bit decimated, and the possibility of increasing forces is hampered by the difficulty in finding professional figures available for recruitment" . On 23 November, Francesco Figliuolo's Emergency Commissioner had already signed an agreement with the Ministry of Health, to extend the agreement with the employment agencies relating to health personnel until 31 July 2022.Apparently - according to several local health authorities now struggling with the tracing and sequencing of the new variants, an increase in infections and new age groups to be immunized - it may not be enough.

"Usually we have always approved what the EMA approved even after a few hours. I would say that the urgent urgency in this case is not there, because they have to arrive vaccination preparations which, I recall, are equal to one third of those made to adolescents and therefore in any case the vaccines will arrive in mid-December ".

Thus the president of the Italian drug agency Aifa, Giorgio Palù, last night in Porta a porta, regarding the awaited AIFA ruling on vaccination for children between 5 and 11 years old.