BOLZANO. It’s a little better than last year, better than 2022, but we’re not there yet.
Despite the efforts of the department and the local health authority – who ordered 80,000 doses and offered them free to the entire resident population – we remain the least vaccinated in Italy on the flu front. The campaign officially ended on December 20, the vaccination centers are no longer active but the ASL says that family doctors, paediatricians and pharmacies, if they still have doses available, will be able to continue to administer the antidote.
Prophylaxis against Covid has almost been abandoned: only 13,798 vaccinations compared to 22,185 in 2023.
Influenza: 61,618 vaccinated
The Prevention Department releases the data and warns “there may still be some fluctuations, especially in RSAs”.
The detail says that at the moment the overall total of those vaccinated against the flu is 61,618 people: 13,220 have been immunized in vaccination centres, 6,669 in pharmacies, 41,817 at family doctors and paediatricians and 212 in RSAs. In 2023 there were 60,729, in 2022 (post Covid) 54,197.
There is improvement but it is slight and very tiring.
Alto Adige last in Italy
The ministry’s table for 2023/2024 sees the province of Bolzano last in Italy with a vaccination coverage against influenza per 100 inhabitants equal to 11.2%, against a national average of 18.9% (Trentino scores 18 ,1%). Last year, according to the same data, only 39.9% of over 65s were vaccinated in Alto Adige, compared to 53.4% in Trentino and a national average of 53.3%. In Italy, only Sardinia is worse than us, stopping at 35.7%.
Twenty thousand unused doses
Health councilor Hubert Messner said it again and again: “We must also improve for this reason we offer the vaccine free to everyone and we have purchased more than 80 thousand doses.”
In fact, the ASL has ordered over 80,000. Around 50,000 for the over 65s, 2,000 for children (nasal spray) and 30,000 for the under 65s. Elderly, chronically ill and fragile people are invited to undergo prophylaxis. Twenty thousand doses remained in the refrigerator.
Influence late but accelerates
The data sent weekly by sentinel doctors has seen an acceleration in the last week. Last year in the last 10 weeks of 2023 the incidence varied from 10 to 14 per 1000 inhabitants, significantly higher than this year where we came close to 5 per thousand. But now it speeds up.
Increase in pneumonia
Giuliano Piccoliori, scientific director of the Institute of General Medicine and Public Health in Bolzano, says that pneumonia is increasing. «The feeling from my very particular observatory in Valgardena, where I work as a family doctor and from what colleagues in the rest of the province tell me is that pneumonia occurs more frequently than usual among flu patients and also among young people. Confirmation also comes from the increase in hospitalizations for pneumonia. Of course, the vast majority of post-flu pneumonias are treated by us and do not arrive in hospital and therefore we do not have certain data, this is until General Medicine manages to create a telematic network for epidemiological detection in real time. As an Institute of General Medicine we are working on this project.”
Covid, only 13,798 vaccinations
Immunization against Covid – recommended for risk groups – has been almost abandoned: only 13,798 vaccinations against 22,185 in 2023. There is heavy vaccination fatigue which has led to a collapse in attention. The separate figure from the ASL is 9,197 immunizations which took place in vaccination centres, 1,203 in pharmacies, 3,205 at family doctors and paediatricians and 193 at RSAs. The virus is no longer scary.