Health1 min read

‘Like priests who don’t believe in God’: Italy’s anti-vax medics eye return to frontline duty

By · Via The Guardian · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Italy's lower house approved the measure backed by Brothers of Italy, the League, and National Future, with a decisive senate vote scheduled for January. Medical experts caution that rehabilitating these practitioners will deepen institutional distrust among a public where nearly half of adults already express vaccine hesitancy. Worsening health metrics highlight the stakes, including declining flu shots for seniors and rising measles outbreaks. Skepticism continues to receive political amplification, underscored by a League politician hosting an anti-vaccine seminar inside the senate.

Key points

  • The Italian senate is scheduled to hold a final vote on the reinstatement legislation in…: The Italian senate is scheduled to hold a final vote on the reinstatement legislation in January.
  • Nearly one in two Italian adults are hesitant about vaccines due to misinformation and di…: Nearly one in two Italian adults are hesitant about vaccines due to misinformation and distrust in institutions.
  • Public health indicators are deteriorating, exemplified by the August death of an unvacci…: Public health indicators are deteriorating, exemplified by the August death of an unvaccinated four-year-old child from diphtheria in Sicily.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Antonio Cremasco contracted Covid at a dinner party on 6 March 2020. Four days later, as Italy became the first European country to go into nationwide lockdown, he was fighting for his life. “I spent 20 days in intensive care, followed by another 20 days in a hospital ward,” said Cremasco, from Bassano del Grappa in the northern Italian Veneto region.

After leaving hospital, he needed oxygen therapy for another six months. Cremasco’s ordeal was such that when Covid vaccines became available in Italy in early 2021, he had no qualms about being vaccinated, and he believes the decision saved his life once again.

“All those who had been in intensive care with me died,” he said. “Without the vaccine, if I had caught Covid again, I had a high risk of dying too.”

But Cremasco, who is now 76 and recently received his annual Covid and winter flu jab, has struggled to convince his vaccine-sceptic son, a father of two, of the drugs’ safety. He said he and his wife were wary of having their potentially unvaccinated grandchildren in…

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