Italy reinstates jabs law for pre-schoolers
Italy's populist government on Wednesday reinstated a law banning children from attending creches and nursery schools if they had not received a series of jabs.
The law, adopted last year by the centre-left government that was booted out of power in March, made it compulsory for children in pre-school education to be vaccinated against 10 diseases, including measles, tetanus and polio.
The new administration—combining the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the nationalist League—had led the charge against the law.
In early August, the upper house Senate approved an amendment proposed by Five Star and the League pushing back enforcement of compulsory vaccination for pre-schoolers to the 2019-20 school year, pending a complete revision of the law after the summer recess.
On Wednesday, M5S announced a new amendment in the lower house effectively reversing the earlier amendment.
Vittoria Baldino, the party lawmaker handling the legislation, however, added in a statement that a new law on vaccinations was needed to deal with the "dysfunction and chaos" created by the current requirements.
© 2018 AFP
