President Sergio Mattarella on Monday slammed anti-vaxxers at a ceremony at the CERN nuclear physics lab in Geneva.
It is not the first time that the head of State has come out against vaccine skeptics, whose movement is fairly strong in Italy.
Mattarella said we are living "in an epoch in which (we are seeing) ill-considered skepticism, as well as unacceptable opposition, to the results offered by the scientific method." Italy has made 10 vaccines compulsory for school admissions, but the policing has been lax.
Mattarella added that Italy had a "leading role" in the CERN lab.
The lab's Italian director general, Fabiola Gianotti, told Mattarella "here we are seeing an unprecedented adventure".
She hailed the contribution from Italy's Nuclear Physics Institute (INFN).
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