Italy’s Chinese feel penalised by ‘Green Pass’ Covid-19 vaccine rules
- Chinese Sinovac jab not listed among vaccines approved for Italy’s Green Pass
- This prevents many in Italy’s Chinese community from going to work
One of Italy’s largest Chinese communities says it is being unfairly penalised by the government’s mandatory Covid-19 health pass and has asked the authorities for a flexible interpretation of the rules.
The so-called Green Pass, showing proof of Covid immunity through vaccination, previous infection or a negative test, has triggered protests in several Italian cities since the government made it mandatory in the workplace from October 15.
The latest complaints come from the 25,000-strong Chinese community in the Tuscan city of Prato, which grew up around the local textile industry.
Many have been inoculated in China with the Chinese vaccine Sinovac, which does not qualify for the Green Pass.
The head of Prato’s Chinese community, Luca Zhou Long, wrote to Tuscany’s President Eugenio Giani asking him to resolve “the bureaucratic hurdle” preventing many Chinese from going to work.
“It is clear that this situation involves considerable difficulties for production, not due to a lack of vaccination but due to the impossibility to obtain the certificate,” Long wrote in the letter made public on Tuesday.
