Italy Opens Coronavirus Vaccinations For Everyone Above 12

Italy has already administered more than 35 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with 12.4 million people now fully vaccinated in the country.

Italy, one of the European nations hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, on Thursday opened vaccinations for everybody over the age of 12. Each region can adapt the national rules but technically anyone registered with health authorities can sign up -- including teenagers, after the European Medicines Agency approved the Pfizer/BioNTech jab for 12 to 15-year-olds last week. "It's a beautiful day," enthused Luigi de Magistris, the mayor of Naples, saying it was an "excellent signal for both containing the pandemic and for resuming as soon as possible all forms of... activity." After a slow start at the beginning of the year, both due to organisational issues and lack of supply, Italy's vaccination programme has been rapidly gaining pace.