Lockdown for unvaccinated, what virologists say

“Lockdown for unvaccinated? It’s fair to make distinctions,” Undersecretary of Health Andrea Costa said today. From Bassetti to Crisanti, what do the experts think? If the cases of Covid continue to increase and vaccinations do not grow until reaching the goal of 90% of immunized, “the” possible “choices will not be many: either to continue with the restrictive measures, also imposing them on those who have been vaccinated, or introduce distinctions, or introduce vaccination obligations for some categories “in addition to healthcare for which it is already in force, Costa said, answering the question about the viability of the ‘Austrian route’ in Italy too, which in the worst scenario provides for the lockdown only for the unvaccinated. “I think it is right to make a distinction between those who have been vaccinated and those who have not been vaccinated,” he said. Read also “If cases continue to grow and vaccinations instead stop at current numbers, which are lower than we need to reach 90% coverage quickly, I agree on the restrictions for the unvaccinated to speed up immunizations. May be a stimulus, but only because these people must know that if they get immunized we put them in a position not to end up in hospital and not to risk their lives “. Matteo Bassetti, director of the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the San Martino Polyclinic in Genoa, underlines this to Adnkronos Health, commenting on the practicability of the ‘Austrian route’ in Italy too, which in the worst scenario provides for the lockdown only for the unvaccinated. “I’m sure these people will thank us in the end. And if there are closures, they must only apply to those who deliberately and against science have decided not to get vaccinated”, he warns. “It is madness from a legal and epidemiological point of view”. Andrea Crisanti, director of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Padua, said very clearly to the so-called ‘Austria model’. “I think we are improvising,” he tells Adnkronos Salute. “It makes no epidemiological sense also because the vaccinated transmit” the virus. “And someone who cannot be vaccinated because he is ill – asks the epidemiologist – what does he do? Does he stay at home because he cannot be vaccinated? The Constitution – he concludes – does not provide for this”. The lockdown only for those not vaccinated against Covid-19, in the event of peaks in infections and intensive care in suffering, “seems to me a possible and interesting option that lowers the level of risk in human contacts”. This is the opinion of the virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco, a professor at the University of Milan, on the so-called ‘Austria model’. “Since there is no management manual, it is necessary to refer to various examples and solutions – says the expert – and this is a possible solution because – he explains – the risk of infection in contacts between unvaccinated or between vaccinated and unvaccinated is higher. Each Inter-human contact is at risk – recalls the virologist – but contact with unvaccinated subjects certainly increases the probability of increasing the spread of the infection “. Moreover, if such a measure were to be adopted, concludes Pregliasco, “it would also protect the unvaccinated, more vulnerable to a serious infection in case of high viral circulation”. Sileri “We have a Green pass and the Green pass is the means to avoid lockdowns “. Thus the Undersecretary of Health Pierpaolo Sileri cuts short, speaking to ‘L’aria che tira’ on La7, on the hypothesis of a lockdown for those not vaccinated against Covid-19 in the event of peaks in infections and intensive care in suffering. “The Green pass is also a diagnostic tool – recalls the undersecretary – it is not only for the vaccinated”.