On Wednesday, Italy made coronavirus vaccination mandatory for people aged 50 and above to ease pressure on its health service and reduce fatalities, as well as for schools and business activities to remain open.
The measure has been put in immediately effective and will continue until June 15. The decree was approved after a two-and-a-half-hour cabinet meeting which saw frictions within Draghi's multi-party coalition.
Italy reported over 138,000 coronavirus deaths since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi's government had already made vaccination mandatory for teachers and health workers and since October 2021 while requiring all employees to be vaccinated or show a negative test before entering the workplace. Refusal results in suspension from work without pay.
Ministers from the right-wing League issued a statement over the new vaccine decision, calling it "without scientific foundation, considering that the absolute majority of those hospitalized with coronavirus is well over 60."
Italy was hit by the Omicron variant later than several northern European countries. Its caseload has risen steadily in recent weeks, registering more than 150 deaths per day.
The country had reported 231 fatalities on Wednesday and 259 on Tuesday. The tally of 189,109 new infections reported Wednesday was its highest since the pandemic began.
About 74% of Italians have received at least two vaccination doses and 6% have had just one shot, according to Our World in Data. Around 35% have had a third "booster" shot.
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