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First step towardsvaccination obligation: the Draghi government, in fact, has approved the new Covid Decree with which it comes tax the administration of the Covid vaccine to Health workers, including pharmacists.
As the Prime Minister explained during last week’s press conference, even if it is a “very small percentage“It is unthinkable that there are health workers who have not yet been vaccinated. Being at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic requires virus protection that only the vaccine can give.
For this reason it is established that in case of demonstrated failure in vaccination, health professionals are expected to have suspension of the exercise of the profession until the fulfillment of the aforementioned obligation and, in any case, at the latest December 31, 2021.
A decision that demonstrates the will of the Draghi government to do everything possible so that Italy can achieve herd immunity as soon as possible.
The goal is to reach80% of those vaccinated in September, an ambitious goal and not only because it will depend on the pace of administration: to date, in fact, the vaccination rejection rate It is not high, but we imagine that once the youngest are called in this could go up. What will the government do in that case? Will you extend the vaccination obligation to other categories as well? It is a possibility, but there are those who wonder if such a decision would be in line with the principles of the constitution.
Covid: would the vaccination obligation be legitimate?
There are several freedoms that have been “sacrificed” in recent months in the name of the right to health, starting with the right to travel. The question, therefore, is whether the Government can do the same with the the right to choose whether or not to be vaccinated.
It must be said that the Draghi government has a valid “ally” in this sense: it was the new Minister of Justice, Marta Cartabia placeholder image, to sign the Constitutional Court ruling n ° 5/2018, the one with whom he legitimacy of the vaccination obligation imposed for school enrollment.
Already then, therefore, the Constitutional Court clarified the constitutional legitimacy of the vaccination obligation. Specifically, make the compulsory vaccination could violate the provisions ofarticle 32 of the Constitution what does it say:
The Republic protects health as a fundamental right of the individual and the interest of the community, and guarantees free medical care for the indigent.
No one can be obliged to a specific health treatment except by law. The law cannot in any case violate the limits imposed by respect for the human person.
However, this is not the case according to the Constitutional Court, which to support the legitimacy of the vaccination obligation for school enrollment (introduced in 2017 by the then Minister of Health Beatrice Lorenzin) referred to what has already been decided by the Council in a previous sentence, the n ° 258/1994, whereupon the judges stated that “the law that imposes health treatment is not incompatible“With the aforementioned article if:
- The treatment is aimed not only at improving or preserving the health of the people subjected to it, but also at preserving the health of others;
- provide that it does not negatively affect the health status of the person subjected to it, except only for those consequences that, due to their temporary nature and little entity, seem normal for any health intervention and, therefore, tolerable;
- If, in the event of additional damage to the health of the subject undergoing compulsory treatment – including the disease contracted by contagion caused by prophylactic vaccination – the payment of just compensation in favor of the injured party is foreseen in any case (see judgment 307 cit. . Now Law No. 210/1992) “.
But be careful; because it is true that there are similarities with that sentence but at the same time there are also substantial differences. For example, the fact that vaccines for Covid they are not 100% effective may not justify the obligation of treatment, since it is not certain that the condition of point one is fulfilled.
Not to mention the vaccine’s contraindications, which experts are still divided about today (just think of the “thrombosis risk” of the old Astrazeneca vaccine).
Evaluations that the Minister of Justice has certainly carried out, attentive to her previous experience in the Constitutional Court (of which she was also President between 2019 and 2020), as well as to foresee a real obligation for health personnel. And who knows if this formula will not be able to be used in the future for other categories if the rejection rate prevents immunization.
Mandatory Covid Vaccine: What Europe Said
Before concluding it is important to focus on what the European Union has established regarding the possibility of the Covid vaccine being mandatory. The Council of Europe spoke about it at the resolution 2361/2021, whereby Member States are prohibited from “make the administration of the vaccine mandatory“As well as to use it”as discrimination against workers and anyone who refuses to be vaccinated”.
Therefore, it is not clear how Italy will justify the decision taken with regard to health personnel; For the moment, however, the Government has made its assessments and has decided to take this path.
