ROME - Vaccine centres in Italy are filled beyond capacity, as parents rush to ensure their children have had the 10 vaccinations necessary before the March 10 deadline, the former president of the Italian Health Society, Carlo Signorelli, said Tuesday.

 The so-called Lorenzin decree, which came into effect in July 2017, made 10 immunisations compulsory, and free of charge, for all children aged 0-16. As a pre-requisite for children attending school, centres are becoming overburdened by the number of patients. 

 Signorelli referred to the centres as “in crisis, overcrowded and understaffed.” He gives three reasons for the large swathes of patients in the centres at the moment as “the latest vaccination plan which foresees new recommended vaccinations, the law on compulsory vaccinations at school and catching up on children who have not been immunized.”

 In view of the upcoming general election, two political parties have made the law on vaccinations a sticking point of their electoral promises. The far-right Northern League and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement are both proposing to do away with the decree, with the former saying that the shots should be optional, and the leader of the latter, Luigi Di Maio, arguing that only several vaccines should be compulsory.

hl