Umm Muhammed Umar

From Monday, the 10^th of January, Italy will only allow vaccinated citizens who have a “super green pass” to use public transport. This includes air and sea transport.

The green pass will only work for Italians who have been fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus or have recently recovered from infection. Euronews reports that simply testing negative will no longer be acceptable in order to use transport, come next week. In effect, some residents of Italy’s 87 small islands will now be unable to travel to the Italian mainland.

Francesco Del Deo, president of the Association of Small Island Municipalities said, “Prohibiting access to these means of transport … means condemning to forced exile the residents who, for various reasons, have not been vaccinated.”

Most of the islands reportedly have no permanent health facilities. Del Deo, who is also mayor of a municipality on the island of Ischia, while also voicing his support for COVID-19 vaccines, said, “In a democracy, the rights of minorities must also be protected.”

The Association has suggested special areas on ferries be established for islanders travelling with a negative test result.

According to Euronews, in Italy, more than 85% of people aged above 12, and more than 10% of children aged 5 to 11, have, nevertheless, been vaccinated.