The cabinet on Friday approved a
decree reintroducing compulsory vaccinations for school
admissions.
The decree had been held up by a row between Health Minister
Beatrice Lorenzin and Education Minister Valeria Fedeli over the
age limit for the obligation, with Lorenzin wanting it raised to
10 and Fedeli insisting it should be left at six.
In the end, Fedeli won out.
Premier Paolo Gentiloni said "without vaccinations there can
be no entry into schools from ages 0-6".
He said the aim of the reform was to "avert a real
emergency".
Sanctions up to "30 times the current ones" will be envisaged
for children who are not vaccinated, the premier said.
Fines are envisaged ranging from 500 euros to 7,500 euros,
the decree said, while parents will be stripped of their
parental rights if they do not have their children vaccinated.
Among the compulsory vaccinations, he said, would be those
for measles and meningitis, whose cases have risen in Italy
recently.
Lorenzin said there would be "12 compulsory vaccinations that
will be required for school admission".
These were a further eight in addition to the four already
decreed compulsory: anti-polio, anti-diphteria, anti-hepatitis B
and anti-whooping cough.
The new entries are anti-meningococcus B and C, anti-measles,
anti-scarlet fever, anti-parotitis, anti-chicken pox and the
vaccine against aemophilus influenzae, which causes a severe
form of influenza.
Gentiloni said the new system would come into force
"gradually", saying that the government appreciated the need to
"progressively" involve parents.
He also said the new standards would serve as benchmarks for
Italy's regions, which govern health management and spending in
Italy.
The government has vowed to end a climate of vaccine
skepticism in Italy.
Some of the skepticism has been raised by past statements
from the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), which the M5S
and its leader, comedian Beppe Grillo, have since gone on to
disown.
Commenting on the cabinet moves, Democratic Party leader and
ex-premier Matteo Renzi said "the government has done very well,
it is going in the right direction".
The move reintroduces compulsory vaccination for the first
time since 1999.
The association of Italian head teachers said "we will stand
guard ti make sure the vaccinations are done".
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