ROME (Reuters) – Italy said on Saturday it was aiming to vaccinate at least 80% of its population by the end of September, following criticism of the slow pace of the coronavirus vaccination campaign in one of the world’s worse in Europe.
Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, a new army chief and special commissioner for coronavirus, has unveiled a national plan to administer 500,000 doses per day at full capacity, according to a cabinet office document.
Italy has recorded 101,881 deaths since the country’s uprising in February 2020, the second highest in Europe after Britain and the seventh highest in the world. They have reported 3.2 million cases of disease to date.
Some 1.95 million Italians, equivalent to just 3.8% of the eligible population, have so far been given two vaccine kicks, prompting public criticism about the slow pace of their spread and encouraging the employment of Figliuolo .
Italy expects to receive a growing number of vaccines, with total deliveries rising from 15.7 million doses in the first quarter to 52.5 million between April and June to a peak of 84.9 million in the third quarter, the document said.
They plan to expand the health operators who administer shots by raising an existing agreement to hire GPs and by using dentists, young doctors, doctors from the Italian Federation of Sports Medicine and others.
In addition to health care facilities that already function as vaccination points, Italy will use military barracks, production sites, large retail outlets, gyms, schools and Catholic church facilities.
Just under 51 million Italians are eligible for the vaccine and 60% of them could be vaccinated by the end of July, reaching the first threshold for herd immunity, the document showed.
Patheon Thermo Fischer, part of the U.S.-listed Thermo Fischer Scientific, is poised to launch a mass production of COVID-19 vaccine in Italy, a government source said Friday.
Reciting with Giuseppe Fonte and Francesca Landini; Written by Francesca Landini; Edited by Mike Harrison and Edmund Blair