Doctors at work in triage before administering the third dose of the COVID vaccine in Molfetta, Italy. Photo: Davide Pischettola/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Italy announced new COVID restrictions on Wednesday — barring unvaccinated people from dining indoors, attending shows, sports events, public ceremonies and entering nightclubs starting in December, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: It follows a trend of public officials around the world imposing restrictions on unvaccinated people, as nations have struggled to get shots in arms, writes Axios' Shawna Chen.
Details: The restrictions will start on Dec. 6, and will last until Jan. 15th in areas of Italy where cases and hospitalizations are rising, per AP.
- People attending any of the events where restrictions are in place must provide proof of vaccination in order to enter. Proof of vaccination will also be needed to enter a hotel or use public transportation.
The big picture: Italy has previously been very aggressive with vaccine mandates.
- In October, it became the first country to require proof of vaccination or a negative test for employees in both public and private sectors.
What they're saying: “We’ve begun to return to normality. We want to conserve this normality,” Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Wednesday.
Go deeper: World gets tough on the unvaccinated