Italy may have reported more than 80,000 Covid-19 cases on Monday, but the anti-vax movement there is still strong. Particularly in northern Italy where distrust of the vaccine has had a real impact on schools. FRANCE 24's Natalia Mendoza reports.
After Italy became one of the worst-hit countries during the first waves of Covid-19 infections, authorities have increasingly tightened restrictions on unvaccinated Italians.
More than 86 percent of people over the age of 12 in Italy are fully vaccinated, while 23 million of the 60-million-strong population have had a booster jab.
With vaccination now open to children aged 5 and over, Rome is also making vaccines obligatory for the over 50s from next month, and has barred the unvaccinated from restaurants, gyms, swimming pools, theatres, cinemas, sports events and public transport, exempting on only those recently recovered from Covid-19.
To protest against restrictions and show their distrust of the vaccine, families “are looking for alternatives” to the health protocol applied in public schools, including mask-wearing.
In the South Tyrol region, more than 600 children have been taken out of the Italian education system since September 2021 and many are sent to unofficial facilities, beyond the control of the education ministry.
But authorities are "concerned for the children" in such facilities, since they "do not follow the official programmes or do not have accredited teachers", province director for German-speaking schools Sigrun Falkensteiner told FRANCE 24.
Click on the player above to watch the full report by FRANCE 24’s correspondent Natalia Mendoza.
