The problem of fines not paid by anti-vaxxers in 2021. When the Draghi government imposed the vaccination obligation for people over 50 years of age, to deal with the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus which was putting hospitals in crisis, the executive also imposed a fine for all those who did not respect the new law.
However, millions of people did not pay the fine, which was still budgeted as revenue between 100 and 150 million euros. The technical executive fell a few months later and since then the Meloni government has never collected these fines. To cancel them, however, it would be necessary to allocate the funds that the State had planned to collect and, at least for this financial maneuver, it does not seem possible. We are moving towards another annual postponement, the third.
Fines for anti-vaxxers towards another postponement
In the discussion on the financial maneuver in Parliament, an unexpected problem emerged for the Government, that of fines for anti-vax of Covid-19. They were issued in 2021 but, in many cases, they were never paid by the people who received them. However, the state still has them in its budget as revenue.
This means that for delete them permanently an intervention on the budget is necessary, which should therefore be included in the Financial Maneuver. The funds to be dedicated to this measure vary depending on the estimates, but they would be between 100 and 150 million euros. However, money that the Government does not seem willing to allocate, also given the difficulties in finding budget availability for 2025.
As a result, the executive could avoid discussing the issue for another year. The fines have in fact been pending since 2021 and the government led by Giorgia Meloni has always postponed their cancellation or payment. A similar solution is also expected this year, with the discussion postponed to the end of 2025.
Where do anti-vax fines come from?
The question of fines for anti-vaxxers was born in 2021. The government, then led by Mario Draghi, must deal with the onset of the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus, which is leading to a very rapid increase in Covid-19 cases. Although the disease caused by this variety of the virus is less serious than that of the first waves, Omicron is much more contagious.
Italy has already started its vaccination campaign but hospitals are once again recording a peak in access which is causing a crisis in intensive care. The data reveals that it is above all the people at risk and unvaccinated end up in the ward and therefore the executive decides to act more incisively to increase the diffusion of vaccines in these categories and reach herd immunity as soon as possible.
A law is thus approved on the mandatory vaccination for Covid-19 which concerns people over 50 years of age. Anyone who does not comply must pay a fine. In the following months fines are actually handed out to those who refuse to follow the obligation, but in the meantime the Draghi government falls and the centre-right coalition wins the 2022 elections. Since then there has been no real effort to make these sanctions pay, nor any allocation of funds to cancel them.
