He was woken up yesterday morning by a text message from the British Minister of Health, announcing Britain’s green light for the AstraZeneca vaccine. And at 8.30 Roberto Speranza was already on the phone with Courier service to respond to the alarm about delays with a “message of reasoned trust”, ask for “more money for health in the Recovery” and launch an appeal to the parties: “Please avoid campaigning on vaccines, let’s not throw the battle of a Country in the political chaos and we work together ».
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Will high school reopen safely on 7 January?
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«Returning to the classroom is our primary goal. Of course, as long as vaccines do not produce an epidemiological impact on the population, the only thing that works is the restrictive measures. The Rt index shows signs of recovery, after the Befana we will have to restore the risk bands model and confirm the basic measures of the yellow areas ».
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“Yes, restaurants and bars closed at 6pm, swimming pools, gyms, cinemas, theaters, stadiums closed. We are still in the second wave, London is returning to very harsh measures and we too still have too many cases and too many deaths ».
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You had staked a lot on AstraZeneca, but the British beat us on time. When will the green light come?
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«AstraZeneca is the vaccine that has the closest relationship with our country. I have maximum faith in the Ema, but there is a delay and we ask for clarity. Safety is essential, but it is not trivial to know whether you can have millions of doses of AstraZeneca in the first trimester or not ».
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«The plan remains the one I presented in Parliament with the final vote on communications. I hear a lot of controversy and I want to give a message, when the government does a serious job, it measures decisions in an appropriate time, taking stock two days before departure is madness. We are a large country with a solid national health service. Many said that we would not leave with the others, instead we did it ».
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Between delays and doubts, do you have any certainty?
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“Eight million Pfizer doses within the first quarter are safe. I hope that on January 6th Ema approves Moderna, 1.3 million doses. And if the yes comes to AstraZeneca, many others can arrive, but certainties still do not arrive from Ema and this will certainly reduce the number of availability in the short term. This is the truth”.
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Is there to be worried?
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«I would say no, 225 million seems to me a significant figure and we work to immediately administer 470 thousand doses per week. Of the six vaccines purchased by the EU commission, Italy is entitled to 13.45%. We have 202 million, plus another 13.5 Pfizer, half of which should arrive in the first half and the other half in the second. We are also working on another 10 million of Moderna ».
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But without AstraZeneca things don’t add up.
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“We will study the Great Britain dossier. It is important that Ema clarifies the reasons for a possible different assessment by the English agency. On safety we do not accept shortcuts, but with respect to planning such a serious vaccination campaign we must have a clear horizon ».
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We are also late on injections. Is it just the fault of the weather or are we doing things Italian style?
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“Italy has done things well and we will publish all the data in real time, region by region. The point is not who administers a thousand doses first, but to build a machine that will allow millions of people to be vaccinated ».
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However, Germany is running, has bought more doses and makes 40,000 vaccines a day, while we are 9,803 in all. Is an Italian less protected than a German?
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“Absolutely not. Now let’s accelerate too. I claim the vaccine alliance strategy at the initiative of Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands. But I ask for clarification. In article 7 of the agreement it is written that the countries renounce bilateral negotiations. If they have been done, they will have subsequent delivery times with respect to the EU agreements ».
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Commissioner Arcuri is in the crosshairs, are you defending him?
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“Of course, he was mistreated because the syringes cost more, but thanks to those syringes and the AIFA authorization on the use of the sixth dose we recover an extra 20% of Pfizer vaccine, which is worth several million euros”.
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The government is divided on the obligation, will you evaluate it?
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«Voluntariness is the right choice. Because we still have limited doses and because we must not divide the country between enlightened scientists and dubious cavemen ».
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So Italy won’t make a register of those who don’t want to get vaccinated, like in Spain?
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“We have the vaccination registry, but we don’t want to split the country.”
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Will no vax doctors be sanctioned or suspended?
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“I receive encouraging reports from the Regions on the adhesion of health personnel, who have been extraordinary and know the damage caused by Covid. Voluntariness is the main road, as recognized by the Bioethics Committee, then we will evaluate the numbers and the possible exception for some segments, but only as a subordinate ».
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Will herd immunity occur with 80% of the vaccinated?
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You and Conte claimed to lead the EU country with fewer infections. Why are we now the one with the most deaths?
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“The top of the class attitude doesn’t belong to us. We were the first to be affected, we have one of the oldest populations in the world, with many pathologies and also for this we pay a very high price. But the virus has affected everyone, Germany yesterday counted over 1,100 deaths, Great Britain over 900 and 50,000 cases. Please, let’s stop with the rankings ».
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If Renzi breaks up, what impact will the government crisis have on the vaccination campaign?
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«It would be very serious to insert this campaign into political tensions. We have three key appointments, vaccines, Recovery and the G20 presidency. I am to face the problems openly if necessary in Parliament. We need a government that works in the fullness of power, not that discusses itself “.
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At the cost of torpedoing Conte?
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December 31, 2020 (change December 31, 2020 | 09:30)
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