The latest tallies are welcome news for a country that has faced setbacks and missed targets in the vaccination rollout. Italy is still lagging behind the European Union, with the number of people receiving one dose amounting to 16.9% of the population. More than three-quarters of the over-80s have received their first dose of vaccine, standing at 76.09%. Those who have had the booster and therefore fully immunised comes to just under half, at 45.19%. Three quarters of healthcare workers and employees in nursing homes have also been fully vaccinated with two shots.
Among those aged 70-79, 30.14% have received the first dose – and only 3.4% have received the booster shot. As many as 4.2 million people in this age group are still waiting for their first dose. Other European countries are picking up pace in their vaccination rollouts, with Germany setting a new record of 656,000 doses on Wednesday and making strides again the next day, with a further 738,501 doses. Italy currently sits behind Germany and France in the vaccination programme, but is just ahead of Spain, according to the latest Our World in Data figures.
The majority of vaccinations administered in Italy come from manufacturer Pfizer/BioNTech, whereas health fears have impeded the rollout of the AstraZeneca and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.