Italy offers vaccination for all by summer’s end

ROME — Italy’s health minister says that all Italians who want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will be able to do so by summer’s end.

Minister Roberto Speranza told state TV on Sunday that Italy expects to receive delivery of more than 50 million doses in the second quarter of this year, including the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine, whose approval by European Union medicine authorities is expected soon.

As of Sunday, about 3.7 million people in Italy had received at least one injection of an anti-COVID-19 vaccine. That’s just over 5% of Italy’s population.

Health authorities in Lazio, the region including Rome, have expressed eagerness to produce Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine in pharmaceutical plants near the capital.

After months of a plateau in daily caseloads of coronavirus since late fall 2020, last week saw a steady climb in new infections in Italy.

Epidemiologists say Italy should brace for a new peak of infections in about two weeks, warning that daily caseloads could reach as high as 40,000 unless more severe restrictions of citizens’ movement and activities are swiftly put into place.

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