Covid, Rezza: “Rt no longer goes down”

Published on: 12/18/2020 10:11 AM

“RT and the number of new positive cases tend not to drop any more, unlike what we have seen in recent weeks.” This was underlined by Gianni Rezza, General Director of Prevention of the Ministry of Health, during a session of the 15th edition of the Forum on Risk Management in Health. “The number of deaths is still very high and we are above the threshold in terms of the number of beds in the medical and intensive care areas. Also, it does not seem to me that the incidence and the Rt are decreasing. There will be a meeting of the ward of control and therefore I still don’t want to get ahead of the data, “Rezza added.” But it is clear that extreme caution is needed in this situation, as the specific measures are decided by politics. “

“It is logical that during the holidays we want to reconnect with loved ones, but it is also normal that in this pandemic period all precautions are used to protect especially the elderly,” he said.

Vaccines Chapter: “To achieve collective immunity” to the coronavirus “60-70% of the population must be vaccinated. So this will be a later objective” of the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 “, which will symbolically begin on December 27 “with” initially few doses available. “

“To begin the anti-Covid vaccination campaign,” Rezza reiterates, “it is clear that initially the available doses will be few. Symbolically it will begin on December 27. After that, the staggered arrival of an increasing number of doses is expected ”.

“We already know that a vaccine will be available, one of the three RNA vaccines that will be available during the first quarter of 2021. There will be a window of time, a period within which the number of available doses will be limited and this has determined it. make decisions and prioritize certain categories of the population ”, explains the expert.

For this reason, Rezza continues, “in the first phase of the campaign, the direct effect of vaccination will be used, that is, the protection of people at high risk of suffering from serious diseases. Above all, the goal is to make certain environments Covid-free: hospitals first, but also RSAs. Therefore, it will be necessary to vaccinate health workers and residents of RSA structures, who were particularly affected in the first phase of the epidemic ”. It is evident that “after an increase in the number of doses, the elderly will be vaccinated, starting with the oldest ones. It is the choice made by all States to obtain a direct protective effect, vaccinating all populations.” vulnerable in several respects. The strategy can then take advantage of different approaches. “