Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has announced that all Ukrainian refugees fleeing to Italy will either have to be vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus or undergo tests every 48 hours.
Over 20,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Italy since the outbreak of the Russian invasion and over 90 per cent are said to be women and children. During a question period in the Italian parliament, Prime Minister Draghi spoke about the current situation regarding the new arrivals.
“All refugees who arrive either agree to take a swab every 48 hours or agree to get vaccinated,” Draghi told the parliament and said that he expected the number of Ukrainian refugees to increase as the conflict continues, newspaper Il Giornale reports.
Ukrainian refugees will also be able to enter the Italian labour market independently and in seasonal jobs and those in assistance centres will have access to various services including legal services and will be offered language courses.
Matteo Bassetti, director of the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the San Martino Polyclinic in Genoa, has also called on Ukrainian refugees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, claiming that as many as a third of Ukrainians are not fully vaccinated.
“It is not a question related solely to Covid. Ukrainians are also poorly vaccinated for polio or measles. Sars-cov2 is just the tip of the iceberg,” Bassetti said and added, “Those who enter Italy become part of a community that has norms and obligations. If it applies to us, why should it not apply to refugees?”
Last September, prior to the war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Draghi suggested that Italy should adopt a policy of mandatory vaccination of incoming illegal immigrants after arranging vaccinations for Afghan nationals fleeing Afghanistan after the fall of the previous government to Taliban forces in August.
While Italy still maintains mandatory vaccinations for those over the age of 50, many of the coronavirus policies and restrictions are set to expire or begin to expire at the end of the month as the Italian government is not renewing the state of emergency enacted to combat the virus.