Italy (Washington Insider Magazine) -The Italian General Confederation of Labour was met with thousands Italian protestors on October 10 after the country will be passing a vaccine mandate on Oct. 15.
Italians will soon be required to carry a Green Pass that will confirm if they are vaccinated or have recovered from the virus so they can enter their workplace. The Green Pass is a downloadable app that shows whether a person is vaccinated or has been tested for the virus, but citizens are also given the option to carry their vaccination cards as well.
The Green Pass had been in effect since August, where people were required to carry one to dine inside restaurants and to board trains. The new law, however, now makes it one of the strictest vaccine mandates in the world.
Italians did not take too kindly to the new law either, as protestors took to the streets chanting “freedom” as they marched from Rome’s Piazza del Popolo to the CGIL. Once they made their way to the prime minister Mario Draghi’s office, however, they were met with tear gas and water cannons from police officers.
12 people were arrested and a few police officers were injured during the weekend-long protest.
United States Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, was with Draghi during the protest but was safely evacuated when they found out what was going on.
Even though thousands of people protested needing to prove their vaccination status, claiming it takes away their freedom, Italy is one of the highest fully vaccinated countries in the world at 80 percent, according to CBS News.
43 million out of 60 million are now fully vaccinated after the country suffered over 130,000 deaths since last February when the pandemic started. The number of deaths was the second-highest in Europe, and ninth-highest in the world.
