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Covid-19 rules For Members

EXPLAINED: Where you need Italy’s Covid vaccine pass from January 10th

Elaine Allaby
Elaine Allaby - [email protected]
EXPLAINED: Where you need Italy’s Covid vaccine pass from January 10th
People enjoy food and drink at a mountain restaurant as ski resorts reopen in Bormio, Italian Alps, on December 4, 2021. (Photo by Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP)

Italy's Covid restrictions change once again from Monday January 10th. Here's what you need to know.

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Italy extends its 'reinforced' or 'super' green pass requirement to a range of additional venues from Monday under a rule change announced in late December.

The reinforced green pass, first introduced in early December, can only be obtained via vaccination or recovery and not with a negative test result - leading some to refer to it as a vaccine pass.

Calendar: When do Italy’s Covid-19 rules change?

Since the pass was introduced, Italy has operated on a two-tier health certificate system, with the more longstanding basic green pass (which can be obtained by a negative test result, in addition to vaccination or recovery) required for some venues and activities, and the super green pass required for others.

As Italy's case numbers have spiked in recent weeks, the Italian government has expanded the use of the reinforced green pass in an effort to encourage vaccine uptake and curb its infection rates.

Here are all the venues to which the 'super green pass' requirement will be added from January 10th, according to the latest information on the government's website (here in Italian):

  • All restaurants and bars, for both indoor and outdoor dining, including in hotels
  • All public transport, including local buses
  • School buses serving children aged 12 and up
  • Hotels
  • Ski lifts
  • All indoor and outdoor swimming pools, wellness centres, gyms and team sports facilities, including changing rooms
  • All indoor and outdoor spas and thermal baths except for “essential rehabilitation or therapeutic treatments”
  • Museums, exhibitions and cultural venues, including libraries
  • Celebrations relating to religious or civil ceremonies
  • Fairs, festivals, conventions and conferences
  • Theme parks
  • Indoor and outdoor cultural, social and recreational centres (excluding educational centres for children)
  • Games rooms, betting rooms, bingo halls and casinos.

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A bar owner shows a valid Green Pass on the VerifyC19 mobile phone application in central Rome on August 6, 2021

From January 10th Italy’s reinforced green pass will be required to enter a range of additional venues. Andreas SOLARO / AFP

This is in addition to the venues where the super green pass is already required:

  • Indoor theatres, cinemas and concert halls
  • Sports stadiums and events
  • Visits to residential and care homes (either a booster dose or a negative test is also required here)

Despite expectations that the government could announce an extension of the super green pass requirement to the workplace in its latest decree issued on Wednesday, no such development materialised.

The 'basic' green pass remains valid to enter the workplaces for all categories of workers not subject to a vaccine mandate (currently healthcare workers, police, teachers, university staff, and emergency services workers).

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Instead, the decree took many by surprise in imposing a vaccine mandate for all over-50s in Italy.

EXPLAINED: What’s in Italy’s latest Covid decree?

Prime minister Mario Draghi said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the government was “working in particular on the age groups that are most at risk of being hospitalised, to reduce pressure on hospital to save lives.”

An estimated 2.34 million people aged over 50 in Italy have yet to have a single dose, according to the latest data from the Gimbe Foundation, an independent research institute.

From January 10th, booster doses of anti-Covid-19 vaccines will be made available four months after the last dose, instead of five as is currently the case, Italy’s pandemic emergency commissioner has confirmed.

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Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
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Anonymous 2022/01/13 20:06
I appreciate that it is difficult to predict too far into the future but i wonder if anyone knows how long covid passes will be valid for. we are based in England and have two trips planned to visit family in Italy. the first will be 4 months after our booster jabs, However, the second trip will be 7 months after the jab. I believe that currently I need to be no more than 6 months after the last vaccination and since there are currently no plans for a 4th vaccination in England this could be a problem. Any suggestions?
Anonymous 2022/01/09 11:39
We're from the US, where we do NOT have a QR code, but only our paper pass, with dates handwritten as to our 2 doses. So far most establishments have taken it no problem but this will probably change now with the more stringent regulations. Does anyone know a way to convert it to an EU super green pass?
Anonymous 2022/01/08 21:31
Does the list include Airplanes and Airports? I have read that it does but you didn’t mention them.
Anonymous 2022/01/08 07:53
I have family visiting from the UK for a skiing holiday in February. Will the NHS app suffice as a ‘super pass’? If not what additional proof is needed?
  • Anonymous 2022/01/10 09:28
    I uploaded my Uk vaccines to the Italian green pass app it works fine
  • brian_61c1983eec9f1 2022/01/09 15:50
    As long as it shows 3 doses of vaccine that are approved by the EU Medicines Agency. Most places will accept this as proof, but not all. More information on the Ministero Della Salute website with the rules and vaccines that are approved: https://www.salute.gov.it/portale/nuovocoronavirus/dettaglioContenutiNuovoCoronavirus.jsp?lingua=italiano&id=5412&area=nuovoCoronavirus&menu=vuoto&tab=4 (versione inglese)
Daniela.Provvedi_305595 2022/01/07 23:46
The Local, you left out:- shopping centres the banks post offices Would be honest if you also admitted that you're shocked with these shameful restrictions.
  • Anonymous 2022/01/10 15:54
    Hi Daniela, A 'basic' green pass (not the reinforced version) will be required to access those places from February 1st. You can see our calendar of what restrictions are due to come into force when here: https://www.thelocal.it/20211227/calendar-when-do-italys-covid-19-rules-change/
  • Anonymous 2022/01/09 15:35
    Very reasonable restrictions- everybody had a chance to get vaccinated- and if you don’t want to honor your host country…
Anonymous 2022/01/07 18:31
Can you possibly answer the question of what has happened to the Driving Test regulations that said after December 2021 we had to take a test or our UK driving licence was not valid anymore?
  • Anonymous 2022/01/08 09:33
    The local has recently addressed this. It’s been extended for another year.
martina_415889 2022/01/07 18:18
How do you prove that someone had Covid if from abroad Italy? Passing the information to some friends that I now their kid has not been vaccinated but he had Covid recently. And how does the Covid infection last for the Super Green Pass?

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