EXPLAINED: What to do if you’re told you can’t book a Covid vaccine appointment in Italy

Question: I tried to book an appointment for the Covid-19 vaccine when my age group became eligible, but the online form requires a tessera sanitaria (health card) number. I don’t have one. What can I do?

Lacking a tessera sanitaria - the card which shows you’re registered with Italy’s national health service (Servizio Sanitari Nazionale, SSN) - should in theory not be a barrier to vaccination. 

The country has a principle of making essential healthcare available to everyone, regardless of nationality or immigration status. That includes vaccinations against potentially severe infectious diseases, such as Covid-19.

But in reality, things aren’t that simple - as the dozens of emails we have received from readers show.

While Italy’s foreign residents may not have an Italian health card for a number of valid reasons, the document has been made a requirement on most online appointment booking systems. And some Italian citizens are also having trouble making appointments because of this.

READ ALSO: ‘It felt like a betrayal’: Foreign residents in Italy report problems getting vaccinated

We’ve been getting questions about this at The Local since Italy began its vaccination campaign at the end of December, and the issue is only becoming more pressing as more and more people become eligible for the jab.

Eligibility, as well as the way booking systems work, varies from one part of the country to another as Italy’s vaccination programme is run by the various separate regional health services (Servizi Sanitari Regionali, SSR) that make up the national system. 

From this week, regional health authorities can open up appointments to all age groups. Some are already offering the vaccine to younger groups, including under-18s in some regions.

And yet, many people in older age groups say they still haven’t been able to book due to the fact that most regions’ online platforms for appointment bookings require you to fill in the number of a tessera sanitaria.

OPINION: Bureaucratic barriers must not stop Italy vaccinating its foreign residents

Many people can’t complete this step, for example because they have private health insurance and therefore are not registered with the SSN, or because their health card is out of date. 

So if you’ve hit this roadblock, what should you do?

Ultimately you should be able to get vaccinated at one of the walk-in clinics Italy has promised to set up around the country by the time doses are more widely available. 

For now, however, vaccination in Italy remains by appointment only.

And there’s no option to pay to get your Covid-19 vaccine done privately in Italy (although the microstate of San Marino is offering the Russian Sputnik jab to tourists for 50 euros).

But, before you book a trip to San Marino, our advice is to contact your local ASL (regional health authority) by email or phone, or call your regional health service’s vaccination hotline to explain the situation, rather than trying to register using the online form.

If you don’t feel confident stating your case in Italian, you can have someone else, such as a friend or family member, call on your behalf.

READ ALSO: 

• Who can register for national healthcare in Italy?
• Tessera sanitaria: How do you apply for or renew your Italian health card?
• The essential Italian vocab for getting tested or vaccinated for Covid-19

If you have a regular doctor in Italy, you should also consult them about your options.

You may also want to look into whether you are eligible to enrol in Italy’s public health system (find a guide here). 

The Local has heard from a handful of readers who were able to get vaccinated without an Italian health card, including an Austrian national who was (eventually) able to book an appointment in Rome by phone with only a codice fiscale, a British second-home owner who got his shot in Sicily when the island offered AstraZeneca to everyone over 60 without appointments one weekend, and a British teacher in Florence who qualified for vaccination through his job.

Unfortunately though, we’ve also heard from readers who say they were told flat-out by their local health authorities that they would not be able to register for vaccination without first signing up for national healthcare.

READ ALSO: Italy says diplomats and Italians who live abroad can get vaccinated without a health card

As with most things in Italy, what you may be told appears to vary between regions and provinces, and even depending on who you speak to.

Italian authorities have not yet agreed on a standard procedure for those who are not enrolled in the public health service. 

The Local has contacted the Italian Health Ministry and the Covid-19 Emergency Commission to ask how they plan to address this issue. We’ll publish any new information on this topic as we get it.

Until authorities address this issue, the best advice we can give is to know your rights and be persistent.

Have you been able to get vaccinated without an Italian health card? The Local would like to hear from you. Email us with your story.