ROME - Italian Covid-19 contagion numbers have continued their gradual decrease, with the R number this week dropping from 0.89 to 0.86 and cases now being at 96 per 100,000 people, compared to last week’s 123. Every region bar Valle d’Aosta is now yellow - the third week in a row that no region has been classified as high risk.

  The Veneto region on Friday afternoon began taking bookings for vaccinations for 40 year olds. Veneto’s Governor, Luca Zaia, has urged 50 year olds to hurry up and secure their booking before the site is flooded by requests from the 742,000 40 year olds.

  Lazio on Friday reached 2.5 million doses of the vaccine, 35 percent of the target population to be vaccinated, and are hoping to reach herd immunity by August, said Alessio D’Amato, the region’s Health Alderman, speaking on ’24 Mattino’ on Radio 24.

  On Wednesday Lazio also had fewer new cases than any day in the last seven months, 633, though it went up slightly on Thursday to 654.

  The region’s ‘SaluteLazio’ Facebook page announced on Thursday an ‘AstraZeneca Open Day’ over the weekend for 40 year olds. In less than three hours all virtual tickets in the provinces of Rome, Frosinone, Viterbo and Latina were sold out, with Valmontone and Rieti just a bit behind. 

  General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, the commissioner leader Italy’s fight against Covid, announced on Thursday that more doses would be delivered to regions in the north of Italy, as they are being administered much faster than the rest of the country. Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto are to be given further deliveries of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is being used at a slower rate, to keep up with demand.

ol