Amy Mek
In October 2022, the new Italian government under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pledged to overturn the “vaccine” mandate introduced by the previous government led by Mario Draghi. However, the country’s left-wing Constitutional Court has just ruled that the vax mandate is constitutional and must remain in place.
The following Italian video features commentary about the Constitutional Court’s action, which Italian lawyer Marco Morisees sees as a purely political decision. Thankfully, he explains there is still hope for overturning the Court’s decision,
The game’s not over yet because ordinary courts can un-apply the internal provision, without forwarding the case to the Constitutional Court.
Furthermore, Morisees believe that it is time for the politicized judges to find new careers:
“The jurists who are for mandatory vaccination, those who think that people should live without a salary for not yielding to an imposition of a medical nature, and so, therefore, are willing to put individuals on a death list, should change profession.”
Vaccine Mandate Upheld
This week Italian judges were asked to determine whether or not vaccine mandates introduced by the previous government during the pandemic – which applied to healthcare and school staff as well as over-50s – breached the fundamental rights set out by Italy’s constitution,
Italy became the first country in Europe to make it obligatory for healthcare workers to be vaccinated, ruling in 2021 that they must have the jab or be transferred to other roles or suspended without pay.
The Constitutional Court upheld the law in a ruling published on Thursday, saying it considered the government’s requirement for healthcare personnel to be vaccinated during the pandemic period neither unreasonable nor disproportionate.
This was the first time the Italian Constitutional Court ruled on the issue after several regional courts dismissed challenges to the vaccine obligation on constitutional grounds.
One Lazio regional administrative court ruled in March 2022 that the question of constitutional compatibility was “manifestly unfounded”.
Such appeals usually center on whether the vaccine requirement can be justified to protect the ‘right to health as enshrined in the Italian Constitution.
In April 2022, Sicily’s Court of Administrative Justice ruled that Italy’s mandatory Covid vaccination obligation is unconstitutional. The court stated that the experimental mRNA treatments intended to protect the public from Covid have been shown to cause “serious or fatal adverse effects.” The court explained that a single death is enough to render the mandate unconstitutional, even if such fatalities are rare.
Vaccine Fines
Meanwhile, fines kicked in from Thursday, December 1st, for almost two million people in Italy who were required to get vaccinated under the mandate but refused.
This includes teachers, law enforcement and healthcare workers, and the over 50s, who face fines of 100 euros each under rules introduced in 2021.
Thursday was the deadline to justify non-compliance with the vaccination mandate due to health reasons, such as having contracted Covid during that period.
However, on Friday, Italy’s health minister appeared to suggest that the new government may not enforce the fines.
“It could cost more for the state to collect the fines” than the resulting income, Health Minister Orazio Schillaci told Radio Rai 1.
He said it was a matter for the Economy and Finance Ministry but suggested that the government was drawing up an amendment to the existing law.
The League, one of the parties which comprises the new hard-right government, is pushing for fines for over-50s to be postponed until June 30th, 2023.
Giorgia Meloni promised change
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had promised a clear break with her predecessor’s health policies after her Brothers of Italy party railed against the way Mario Draghi’s government handled the pandemic in 2021 when it was in opposition.
At the end of October, shortly after taking office, the new government allowed doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals to return to work earlier than planned after being suspended for refusing the Covid vaccine.
There has been uncertainty about the new government’s stance after the deputy health minister in November cast doubt on the efficacy of Covid vaccines, saying he was “not for or against” vaccination.
Italy’s health ministry continues to advise people in at-risk groups to get a booster jab this winter, and this week stressed in social media posts that vaccination against Covid and seasonal flu remained “the most effective way to protect ourselves and our loved ones, especially the elderly and frail”.
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