Prime Minister Draghi just announced that Italy opens up starting April 26.
By saying that Italy opens up, he means most regions will turn yellow. “Yellow” allows us to move freely in designated regions, and restaurants will be able to open for both lunch and dinner. This will be for outdoor seating/dining only. However, the 10 p.m. curfew will still be in effect. Inter-regional movement is still limited to essential business and personal matters.
The Italian news and editorial commentary programs are all abuzz. I’ve been suffering for days from the whiplash of all the impassioned arguments from all sides. Stay closed! Open everything! Get some real traction on the vaccinations first! Adopt a nationalized strategy/approach! We’ve been hearing it all while new infections float around anywhere from 12k to 18k a day. I constantly check the map of the regions, which has been mostly orange and red for weeks. Talk about living in purgatory.
But I trust Draghi, and I’m banking on him seeing a coming fork in the road. He’s saying it’s a “calculated risk (read this wantedinrome.com article for the broader story). We’re hearing that the infection rate has been coming down (though I’d like to see a bigger dip) and vaccinations are ramping up (most days are around 300k). Finally, the older population is getting its priority focus for vaccinations after regions made a mess of liberally interpreting “essential” workers and pushing the elderly out of the way, and making them wait. If you weren’t aware, estimates are that 86% of Covid deaths in Italy are in people over seventy. So, a lot of blame being hurled for deaths that could’ve been prevented.
Read my post about Italy’s messy vaccine rollout.
As Italy opens up, will its residents behave responsibly?
While I trust Draghi, I remain dubious of human nature. I understand the fatigue of having one’s wings clipped for much longer than we’d anticipated. But, with that fatigue can come the disease of impatience and wanting to rush ahead and past this royal heap of a mess. Impatience could very well lead us back into another indeterminable lockdown.
As Italy opens up, will the vaccinations falter?
First, we had the AstraZeneca vaccine pause, then the Johnson & Johnson pause. Both have been for a minuscule percentage of deaths relating to thrombosis blood clots. Understandably, people are racing to understand exactly why this is happening. Evidence is emerging that this may be due to an extremely rare clotting disorder.
From latimes.com (read the full article by Karen Kaplan here):
“Scientists do have some clues about how a vaccine that uses an adenovirus could wind up triggering a rare blood clotting disorder.
Some of them believe the seven women may have suffered a condition called autoimmune thrombocytopenia. Usually, it happens because the immune system mistakenly attacks a patient’s blood platelets, the cells the body uses to form clots. Paradoxically, patients with the condition also develop dangerous blood clots in the brain, lungs, legs or abdomen.
A study of 11 patients in Europe who developed blood clots after getting the AstraZeneca vaccine found that all of them had high levels of antiplatelet factor 4 antibodies — a sign that they, too, might have had autoimmune thrombocytopenia.”
Vaccine risk will never be ZERO, but the odds of clotting are WAY higher with Covid.
I try to keep in mind as Italy opens up and vaccinations ramp up, that the risk of developing and dying from blood clots is much higher if a person gets Covid.
Just yesterday cbsnews.com reported (read the full article by Tucker Reals and Steve Berriman):
“That equates to a risk of CVT 10-times greater for people who catch the coronavirus than for those who get the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, and 8-times greater for those given the AstraZeneca shot.”
I’ll gladly take the vaccine odds.
Finally, I’ll soon be able to schedule my vaccine.
Every region has a different schedule. Here in Liguria, they’ve just published dates for different age groups. My group can start signing up on April 23 (and online as early as 11 p.m. the night before). Woohoo! While, if I had my choice, I’d pick Pfizer, I’ll happily take AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson.
Italy Opens Up for tourism starting June 2?
That the hope, as outlined in this article from thelocal.it
“Italy’s tourism minister last week proposed June 2nd as a possible date for allowing non-essential travel to restart, though this has not been officially confirmed, and no further details were given.”
The full article is well worth a read to get a fuller perspective of all the interrelated pieces as Italy opens up more broadly. While I’d love to see Italy rockin’ again with happy tourists, I remain dubious at both the wisdom and probability of such an ambitious date.
For now, we celebrate that “movement” is afoot. But, one step at a time, right?
I remember a country song that played on the radio when I was a kid, “One Day at a Time, Sweet Jesus.” My sisters and I used to make fun of the hard “twang” and exaggerate the delivery of the lyrics as we mimicked the singer. But these days, it has become a mantra that I utter to keep myself sane and hopeful. Yes, one day at a time…
Yay! I found a needle in the haystack!
Great site and posts. I am submitting my Elective Residency Visa Application on Friday to Chicago. As you say elsewhere, each consulate has its own personality. I handled the applications for juris sanguinis for my wife and daughter and not only were the two consulates different, but we had the “pleasure” of working with 3 different consular officers, each of whom had her own interpretation of the requirements and standards for translations! We made it through twists and turns.
On to me. I intend to get my long term stay visa, complete my B1 fluency test and then apply for citizenship during 2021. Do you or any readers know if consulates are accepting applications at this time? I called and emailed the Chicago consulate, to no avail, also something you mention in another post.
Your information about financial information helped me prepare a good package.
Grazie, Jim! Congratulations on making it successfully through the maze of inconsistent hurdles with the consulates! That is indeed a big accomplishment. I would expect that all consulates are obliged to remain open to accepting citizenship applications. But, if you want to consider an expert track through the process, I’d recommend that you reach out to the team at italymondo.com. Peter Farina (the founder) has built a really good network and he and his team of legal experts in this regard know how to make this happen. They always offer a free consultation to understand an individual’s situation!
Thanks so much for the encouraging comments about my blog! Best, Jed
Your photos are getting better and better…. how is this happening? They were incredible to start with!!! Happy you are getting your vaccine soon. Love that you’re happy and living in such an inspiring place. Love you always!
Thanks, dear friend! I’d love to claim credit for the featured image in this post, but this one was an Adobe Stock image (with a few enhancements). I needed a good “woohoo” vibe and Simone is a bit too camera shy to oblige!
Yes, slowly, gracefully, piano piano. We will all still need to be cautious when Italy opens to tourists. Vaccinations are picking up here in Umbria for us in the 70 plus group, Jed. I had my first AZ shot last Monday, with no side effects at all. The next one is scheduled for the end of June. It’s such a feeling of relief! And it’s primavera, spring at last, new beginnings!
Hi Elizabeth, I love that you used the word “gracefully,” as I think that will be an important component to rounding the corner and holding each other up! Miss you and we hope to see you soon! xoxox
Good to get an update from you. I look foward to them, even though we are still in the virus. I see a tiny little blinkinglight at the end of the tunel. Our little casa has been waiting or us going on two years now.
Thanks, Royane. We’re still plugging away here and ready to open our arms to visitors as soon as things truly seem as though they’ve made a turn for the better. This next month will be telling! Hopefully, you’ll be able to come back soon!