Vaccination side effects

Italian government introduces corona commission

Various vaccines against Covid-19 (archive image)

(Bild: AFP, Viennareport, Alexander Schwarz, Krone KREATIV)

Italy's government wants to introduce a commission to investigate side effects of the Covid-19 vaccine. "Adverse effects (...) are a problem and, according to numerous studies, a certainty," said Health Minister Orazio Schillaci on Friday. The commission is to examine and evaluate all cases that have occurred.

According to the Italian health minister, only a few people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 or influenza this year. "The victims of vaccine damage often feel abandoned", said head of government Giorgia Meloni. The state must take responsibility for citizens who have suffered damage to their health.

Her government had only recently decided to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate how the previous government led by Giuseppe Conte dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic. Right-wing parties accuse Conte of having taken inadequate measures, especially in the initial phase. An outdated plan had not even been updated.

Criticism from experts
The planned commission has also been criticized by experts, who accuse Meloni of trying to win votes from anti-vaccination campaigners. "Six billion vaccinations have been administered worldwide, and Italy is the only country where a government allows itself to say this nonsense by raising the political issue of vaccination," said virologist Andrea Crisanti, a senator from the opposition Democratic Party.

Italy was the first western country in which the coronavirus pandemic broke out in February 2020.