Italian deputy health minister sparks controversy after questioning whether Covid vaccines work

The Italian deputy health minister Marcello Gemmato sparked controversy after he questioned whether Covid vaccines actually worked.

During a televised interview with state broadcaster Rai on Tuesday, November 15, Marcello Gemmato, the Italian deputy health minister, sparked controversy by questioning whether Covid vaccines actually work.

Gemmato is a pharmacist by profession and was handed the position of deputy health minister in Italy’s newly-formed government by the country’s new Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. He was asked by the interviewer whether he believed more deaths would have been recorded in the country had it not been for the introduction of vaccines.

His response was: We do not have the reverse burden of proof”. However, he quickly stressed: “But I’m not falling into the trap of taking sides for or against vaccines”. He did denounce Mario Draghi’s previous government’s ‘ideological’ approach to the pandemic though.

The Brothers of Italy minister insisted that he was opposed to the so-called coronavirus Green passes that became mandatory for a period of time in order to access public spaces. In early 2020, when the pandemic hit Europe, Italy brought in some of the strictest restrictions of all the European nations.

Approximately 180,000 people have died with Covid in Italy up until November 10. Following his television appearance, Gemmato was immediately hit with calls for his resignation. Among those calling for him to step down was Enrico Letta, the head of the centre-left Democratic Party.

Carlo Calenda, the leader of Action, the centrist party, tweeted: “A health undersecretary who doesn’t take his distance from no-vaxxers is certainly in the wrong job”. 

“How is it possible to say that there is no scientific proof that vaccines have helped save the lives of millions of people? You just have to read the scientific literature”, tweeted Matteo Bassetti, the infectious disease expert from the San Martino clinic in Genoa, as reported by insiderpaper.com.

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