[Natural News]: Italy will become the first country in Europe to require all workers in both the public and private sectors to get a vaccine certificate in order to do their jobs.
On Thursday, government officials announced their mandate, which will see every worker in the country need a type of vaccine passport known as a “green pass” effective October 15. While several other countries in Europe have instituted vaccine passport requirements to visit venues such as restaurants, bars, gyms and other businesses, Italy will be the first to require the pass for private sector employees.
This new law will extend the requirements to every employee of every type of workplace across all sectors in the country, including people who are self-employed. Businesses and staff will be fined as much as 1500 euros if workers are discovered to be working without a valid green pass.
In addition, workers who do not have the green pass could be suspended and lose their pay. However, they cannot be fired for failing to get the pass. In lieu of proof of vaccination, they may also present an official negative test or prove that they have recently recovered from infection with the virus. Unions there have said that the tests should be administered for free to workers who do not wish to be vaccinated; the government disagrees but has capped the price of tests at 15 euros.
In Italy, 68 percent of the population is currently fully vaccinated, while 74 percent of Italians have received at least one vaccine dose. Their death toll is the second highest in Europe after the UK. Italy was the first country in Europe to go into lockdown and has seen more than 130,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
In March, Italy ordered its healthcare workers to get vaccinated or face being suspended. More than 700 doctors have already been suspended over the rule, along with an unknown number of nurses and care givers.
The government is hoping that the new move will lead to an “enormous” jump in people getting vaccinated. While some countries in Europe have been requiring health care workers to get the vaccine, none have extended such measures to all types of employees. Public administration minister Renato Brunetta said: “Nothing like this has been done in Europe… we are putting ourselves in the forefront internationally.”