Health Minister Giulia Grillo said
Thursday that the government coalition has presented a bill to
make the obligation for children to be vaccinated to have access
to State schools flexible.
"Yesterday we presented a bill of the ruling coalition in
which we push for the method of recommendation, which is what we
prefer from a political point of view, which features flexible
obligation measures at the local level, and therefore, also in
the regions and towns where the there are low vaccination
coverage levels or epidemic emergencies," said Grillo, a member
of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S).
"Although they pull my leg about this point, the idea of a
flexible obligation according to the territory is the most
sensible idea".
The 5-Star Movement/League government has come under fire
after a requirement for parents to present vaccination
documentation for admission was postponed until the 2019-2020
school year.
On Wednesday Italy's association of school principals said
its members will ask parents to provide vaccination
certificates, saying a circular letter released by Grillo
stipulating that self-certification should suffice cannot
supercede the law on obligatory vaccines drafted by her
predecessor Beatrice Lorenzin.
Grillo insisted that self-certification will be valid again
for the the upcoming school year.
"The instrument of self certification was used throughout
2017," Grillo said.
"I don't understand the position adopted yesterday.
"We will use it (self-certification) again for 2018 because
Lorenzin did not set up a national vaccine register and we
didn't want to put extra burdens on citizens, forcing them to
provide more documentation".
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