The Importance of COVID-19 vaccines
has never been in question, Health Minister Orazio Schillaci
said Friday amid a row over a health undersecretary who appeared
to say there was no proof vaccines worked.
Health Undersecretary Marcello Gemmato sparked a row Tuesday by
appearing to suggest that there was no proof that COVID-19
vaccines worked.
Responding to a statement on Italian TV by Corriere della Sera
deputy editor Aldo Cazzullo that "without vaccines (the
pandemic) would have been worse", Gemmato said "that's what you
say, but we don't have the onus of the reverse proof. I'm not
falling into the trap of siding with or against vaccines".
Gemmato said "for much of the pandemic Italy was top for
mortality and third for lethality, and so I don't see great
results having been achieved".
Opposition politicians widely condemned Gemmato's statements and
there were some quit calls, after which he walked back his
statements saying that vaccines were "precious" and his words
had been take out of context.
On Friday Schillaci said "At no time has the importance of
vaccination has been questioned by the government. And no
initiative of mine will ever undermine the right to care and the
defence of health'.
He sided with his undersecretary in the row, saying
"Undersecretary Gemmato denied the misinterpretation of his own
statements."
Schillaci added: "The vaccination campaign has prevented over
500 thousand hospitalisations and about 50 thousand deaths. The
data confirm the importance of vaccination in preventing
hospitalisations and deaths. Some 90.5 per cent of the
population has completed the vaccination cycle in Italy'.
He also said: "Never have I thought of abandoning the use of
masks in hospitals and RSAs. As for the publication of daily
aggregate data, I would like to point out that data collection
continues to be daily and therefore only the publication of the
data is weekly, but the data are always available".
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