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HEALTH

Covid-19: Republic of San Marino to use Russian Sputnik vaccine

San Marino, a tiny independent republic in northern Italy, said on Friday it would use the Russian Sputnik vaccine to inoculate its population against Covid-19.

Published: 19 February 2021 14:57 CET
Covid-19: Republic of San Marino to use Russian Sputnik vaccine
A vial containing the Sputnik vaccine produced in Russia. Photo: AFP

The country, with around 34,000 citizens, has yet to start its vaccination campaign.

To date, it has reported around 3,400 coronavirus cases and 72 deaths.

Before turning to Russia it had agreed a vaccines deal with Italy, but this has been undermined by the supply shortages faced in many European countries.

“The fight against coronavirus must not have any geopolitical connotations and must know no borders,” Foreign Minister Luca Beccari said in a statement.

READ ALSO: Vatican staff who refuse vaccination could be fired

“Small European states like San Marino must be able to ensure a uniform vaccination campaign across their territory,” he added.

San Marino authorities said they expected to start administering the first doses of the vaccine “in the coming days”.

The Russian vaccine has not been authorised by European Union authorities, but since San Marino is not a member of the bloc, it is not bound by its rules.

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HEALTH

Italy’s schools warned to ‘avoid gatherings’ as Covid cases rise

As Italy’s new school year began, masks and hand sanitiser were distributed in schools and staff were asked to prevent gatherings to help stem an increase in Covid infections.

Published: 11 September 2023 12:48 CEST
Italy’s schools warned to ‘avoid gatherings’ as Covid cases rise

Pupils returned to school in many parts of Italy on Monday and authorities said they were distributing masks and hand sanitiser amid a post-summer increase in the number of recorded cases of Covid–19.

“The advice coming from principals, teachers and janitors is to avoid gatherings of students, especially in these first days of school,” Mario Rusconi, head of Italy’s Principals’ Association, told Rai news on Monday.

He added that local authorities in many areas were distributing masks and hand sanitizer to schools who had requested them.

“The use of personal protective equipment is recommended for teachers and students who are vulnerable,” he said, confirming that “use is not mandatory.”

A previous requirement for students to wear masks in the classroom was scrapped at the beginning of the last academic year.

Walter Ricciardi, former president of the Higher Health Institute (ISS), told Italy’s La Stampa newspaper on Monday that the return to school brings the risk of increased Covid infections.

Ricciardi described the health ministry’s current guidelines for schools as “insufficient” and said they were “based on politics rather than scientific criteria.”

READ ALSO:

Recorded cases of Covid have increased in most Italian regions over the past three weeks, along with rates of hospitalisation and admittance to intensive care, as much of the country returns to school and work following the summer holidays.

Altogether, Italy recorded 21,309 new cases in the last week, an increase of 44 percent compared to the 14,863 seen the week before.

While the World Health Organisation said in May that Covid was no longer a “global health emergency,” and doctors say currently circulating strains of the virus in Italy are not a cause for alarm, there are concerns about the impact on elderly and clinically vulnerable people with Italy’s autumn Covid booster campaign yet to begin.

“We have new variants that we are monitoring but none seem more worrying than usual,” stated Fabrizio Maggi, director of the Virology and Biosafety Laboratories Unit of the Lazzaro Spallanzani Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome

He said “vaccination coverage and hybrid immunity can only translate into a milder disease in young and healthy people,” but added that “vaccinating the elderly and vulnerable continues to be important.”

Updated vaccines protecting against both flu and Covid are expected to arrive in Italy at the beginning of October, and the vaccination campaign will begin at the end of October, Rai reported.

Amid the increase in new cases, Italy’s health ministry last week issued a circular mandating Covid testing on arrival at hospital for patients with symptoms.

Find more information about Italy’s current Covid-19 situation and vaccination campaign on the Italian health ministry’s website (available in English).

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