A total of 1.2 million Italians are set to receive a fine in the mail as Italy continues its policy of mandating Wuhan coronavirus vaccinations for all over the age of 50 until mid-June.
The 1.2 million people over the age of 50 are set to receive a fine of €100 (£84/$104) for remaining unvaccinated despite the mandate being rolled out by the Italian government in mid-February.
The president of the scientific foundation GIMBE, Nino Cartabellotta, has claimed that as many as 19.5 million Italians are either unvaccinated or have not completed their third or fourth dose of a coronavirus vaccine, the newspaper Kronen Zeitung reports.
Previously, an estimated 600,000 Italians had received fines for being vaccinated in March of this year prior to the government relaxing Wuhan coronavirus restrictions.
Among them was a woman named Maria Sedda from the Sardinian municipality of Lula who received a letter in March. The arrival of the letter announcing the fine was treated as odd by her family, however, who said Ms Sedda died 18 years ago.
The Italian Health Ministry has allegedly had difficulties in convincing people to either get their first vaccine doses or get their booster doses as the vaccination campaign has recently stagnated.
According to the ministry, only a small portion of those over the age of 80 and those with compromised immune systems have signed up to take a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine and the ministry has called on regions to do more and create more information campaigns to encourage more vaccinations.
A decrease in vaccinations may be related to the recent easing of coronavirus restrictions in Italy, particularly the end of the coronavirus health pass system known as the Green Pass, which ended on May 1st across the country.
Previously, the Green Pass, which required full vaccination, proof of recovery or a recent negative test, was needed to access everything from restaurants and bars to public transportation across the country.