Italy Puts in Force Tough New Law Requiring Workers to Test or Vaccinate.

[elleng]

The rollout went more or less smoothly, with only scattered protests, as the majority of citizens accepted the ‘Green Pass’ as a tolerable sacrifice to stem the Covid pandemic.

ROME — Italy on Friday set a new bar for major Western democracies seeking to move beyond the pandemic by enacting a sweeping law that requires the nation’s entire work force — public and private — to have government-issued health passes, essentially forcing Italians to choose between getting a pass and earning a living.

With the step, Italy, the first democracy to quarantine towns and apply national lockdowns, is again first across a new threshold, making clear that it is willing to use the full leverage of the state to try to curb the pandemic and get the economy moving.

Italy’s measures, which require proof of vaccination, a negative rapid swab test or recent recovery from Covid-19 to go to the workplace, now stand as some of the toughest among Western democracies, which have struggled to balance public health needs with civil liberty concerns.

For many Western governments, that has resulted in refraining from national mandates while seeking other ways to encourage, coax and even mildly coerce people to get vaccinated.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron has tried to make life uncomfortable for unvaccinated people, requiring a health pass to enter restaurants and for long-distance train travel, for instance, but has mandated vaccines only for some essential workers.

President Biden has appealed to private companies to mandate coronavirus vaccinations for employees, asking them to take the initiative as an effort that he announced in September to require 80 million U.S. workers to get the shot undergoes a lengthy rule-making process.

Under Italy’s new rules, those who do not have a Green Pass, as the health certificate is called, must take unpaid leave. Employers are responsible for verifying the certificates, which are for the most part shown on a cellphone app, though hard copies are also acceptable. Workers risk fines of up to 1,500 euros — or about $1,750 — for not complying.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/15/world/europe/italy-vaccination-law-covid.html

[Sherman A1]

1. Good

I would like to see this type of mandate applied in the US, although I know it never will come to pass.

[BeckyDem]

2. Smart. +1

[bullwinkle428]

3. Once again - "Cult 45ers" don't have the slightest freaking clue of how

much tougher the rules are relating to COVID requirements in GENUINE DEMOCRACIES throughout the world. Let these assholes try to function under some of the rules that Australia, for example, has imposed during the pandemic.