Walter Ricciardi, a scientific adviser to the Italian health minister, predicts that Italy will witness a surge in COVID-19 cases in January and begin a fourth round of vaccination against coronavirus in May
ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th December, 2021) Walter Ricciardi, a scientific adviser to the Italian health minister, predicts that Italy will witness a surge in COVID-19 cases in January and begin a fourth round of vaccination against coronavirus in May.
"The increase in the number of cases is rapid, but due to the vaccine it exerts little pressure on hospital system compared to last year. In January, there will be over 100,000 cases registered daily," Ricciardi said in an interview to Il Messaggero newspaper.
The expert added that in such circumstances, renewed restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 will apply only to unvaccinated people or some regions of the country.
Commenting on the decision made by Germany and Israel to start a fourth round of vaccination, Ricciardi said that for Italy it is premature to consider this issue.
"We need to conduct (administration of) the third dose. After that, yes, we will need the fourth dose ... nonetheless, we will start it at earliest in several months, in May or June," Ricciardi said.
Last week Italy registered a significant number of COVID-19 cases, with the daily incidence increasing from 30,738 on Tuesday to 54,787 on Sunday, a record since the start of the pandemic. Over 73% of Italy's population of 60 million is fully vaccinated, while the number of booster doses administered accounts for 17.19 million.
