After 10 days of controversy, the Minister of Health Schillaci decided to dissolve the vaccine commission. Saturday 16 August the minister signed a decree for the decline of the Nitag, namely the national technical consultative group on vaccinations. It is an independent body of which there has not been much, except because of the appointment of two doctors: Eugenio Serravalle and Paolo Bellavite. Due to their skeptical positions on vaccines against Covid-19, and in general on pediatric vaccines, the Nitag case has become of national interest.
They were days of controversy, according to some Schillaci he would also have thought of resigning. There were petitions against and appeals in favor, but in the end the decision was made. With the dissolution of the Nitag, the storm seemed to have returned, but the bad mood of the government and the people involved on the risk of absence of pluralism has arrived. The words chosen for the declaration of dissolution of the Ministry of Health also discuss.
Schillaci gives in to the controversy? The Commission revoked
The composition of the Nitag was short -lived. In fact, the national consultative group on vaccinations lasted just 10 days because of the controversies on the list of its components. Among these, the names of two doctors criticized during the pandemic by a part of the Italian scientific community: Eugenio Serravalle and Paolo Bellavite.
After the communication of the members, the controversy over the Ministry of Health was triggered and in particular against Orazio Schillaci who signed that list. Tens of thousands of signatures against the two doctors considered “no vax” and therefore “anti-scientific”. The Minister of Health signed a decree for the revocation of the Commission.
10 days of controversy: what happened
But let’s take a step back and retrace the 10 days of controversy that have characterized the appointment of the new composition of the Nitag. On August 6, the ministry established the group, but the publication of the list of names of its components immediately sparked controversy. Among these, in fact, Eugenio Serravalle and Paolo Bellavite appeared, in the past already criticized for their opinions on vaccination policies, also preceding the Pandemic period.
But to make the question known to the general public was the renunciation of the head of the prevention of the Veneto Region and the Conference of the Francesca Russo Regions. In fact, this had officially communicated its decision as “accrued following the evaluation of the group composition, in which there are components which, in the past, have repeatedly expressed positions not consistently consistently with the scientific evidence regarding vaccinations”.
Hence a series of criticisms such as that by the Hygiene Society, which expressed its profound opposition and bewilderment for the decision to include the two exponents of a “non -slip line with respect to vaccines” among the members. The controversy has expanded and also included most of the opposition to the government, such as Davide Faraone, vice-president of Italy Viva, who directly criticized Minister Schillaci claiming that this should stop “to be dictated the line from the no-vax majority that put it on the armchair”.
Criticisms, however, also came from the majority forces, as by the president of the National Council of Forza Italia Letizia Moratti. According to this in fact:
The appointment of two well -known no Vax exponents within the Nitag, the technical consultative group on vaccinations, represents a serious step back in the credibility of the health institutions of our country. In a historical moment in which trust in science and medicine is more fundamental than ever, we cannot allow ideological logics or political balance to question the pillars of public health.
Finally, attention came from well -known names of the Italian scientific community that launched an online petition that collected over 34,000 signatures in a few days to request the revocation of the appointments. Among these Silvio Garattini, Matteo Bassetti, Nino Cartabellotta and Roberto Burioni.
Who are Serravalle and Bellavite?
But who are the names of discord? Eugenio Serravalle teaches Pediatrics in the Sofi Sofi school in Pisa. He has written several books, among which those with Roberto Gava, a doctor radiated by the Order of Doctors of Treviso for his positions against vaccines are to be reported. Serravalle has always been a scholar who carries on critical theses on vaccinations. It can also be seen from the publications on the Assis Association website, which question the safety of vaccines and speak of a correlation between vaccination, serious diseases and autism.
Paolo Bellavite is instead a former associate professor of General Pathology of the University of Verona, now retired. In the past his name has risen to the public limelight due to his statements against vaccination for Covid-19. In a recent interview a Republiche explained that his name and that of Serravalle were proposed for the Commission on vaccination due to the estimate by some characters from the League. “Someone wanted to press pressure on the ministry to have a more pluralist commission,” he explained.
What does the Note of the Ministry say?
In the long controversy around the vaccine commission, the note with which the Ministry of Health melted the Nitag could not be central. The press release dated August 16, 2025 reads:
The Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, signed the revocation decree of the National Consultative Technical Group on vaccinations (National Immunization Technical Advisory Group – Nitag). In particular, it is considered necessary to start a new procedure applying to the Nitag members to involve all the categories and stakeholders concerned. “The protection of public health requires the utmost attention and a serious, rigorous and distant work from the clamor – declares Minister Schillaci – with this spirit we have always worked and we will continue to act in the exclusive interest of the citizens”.
There are those who speak of conflict of interests with pharmaceutical companies. The focus is on Stakeholder, a term that indicates “the bearers of economic interest” and in fact it is a corporate term. “In public health who would be the stakeholders?”, The publisher of Byoblu wonders.
Stakeholder is the term used to indicate an individual, a group of people or an organization that has an interest in a project. It is a term in economic use, and which literally indicates “bearer of interests”, but depending on the context it can take different meanings.
Meloni is not happy: “We support pluralism”
Minister Schillaci’s decision has satisfied some and disconnected others, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Even if there are no official statements, it seems that the Prime Minister has declared that Schillaci’s choice was not agreed and that “we have always believed in the government in pluralism and in the comparison of opinions”.
In fact, Schillaci’s decision does not find the favor of part of the brothers of Italy, that the criticism because the commission did not have to decide anything and was only an advisory body, without binding powers. In this case, therefore, the presence of several guidelines was not a disvalue, they say, without prejudice to the proof of the professional qualifications of the members of the Consulta. According to Fratelli d’Italia, in fact Serravalle and Bellavite had not been nominated for their characteristics “No Vax”. These believe that Schillaci, as a technical name, has fallen into a media trap.
