Minister Schillaci revokes the appointments of the Vaccine Group

The political tug-of-war over the appointments of Paolo Bellavite and Eugenio Serravalle to the Ministry of Health's National Technical Advisory Group on Vaccinations (NITAG) lasted about ten days. On August 5, Health Minister Orazio Schillaci signed the decree appointing the 22 members of the NITAG, the central body for developing vaccination policies in Italy established in 2021, and this morning the news was released that the appointments of the entire Vaccine Group had been revoked. It will now be necessary to wait until September for the process to identify the new members to be activated. Pressure from political circles and the entire scientific community for the revocation of those appointments began immediately, and today the minister commented on the signing of the revocation decree, noting that "the protection of public health requires the utmost attention and serious, rigorous work, free from fanfare. We have always worked in this spirit and will continue to act in the exclusive interest of citizens." The decision has been welcomed by the political world and the entire scientific community.

"I consider Minister Schillaci's decision to revoke the appointment of the committee responsible for vaccines to be positive," said Forza Italia Senator Maurizio Gasparri. Schillaci's decision, which he carefully listened to the critical assessments, is welcome. "It would have been better not to appoint people unsuitable for this role to the body. Now we await the subsequent assessments and decisions," he added. Also from Forza Italia, Senate Vice President Licia Ronzulli sees Schillaci's decision as "an act of responsibility and protection for citizens." The elimination of the NITAG is also "good news" for Democratic Party Senator Francesco Boccia. "While endorsing the minister's decision, we cannot help but point out how the right continues to flirt with anti-vax and anti-scientific culture," he noted.

"We hope," she added, "that the majority's attitude will change from today because science is a serious matter and the health of Italian citizens cannot be played with." For the vice president of the Democratic Party (PD) senators, Beatrice Lorenzin, the revocation of the Nitag appointments "is a victory for the Italian scientific community." Also from the Democratic Party, MP Ilenia Malavasi of the Social Affairs Committee said she was "relived" to learn of the minister's decision and hoped that "the new Nitag will be reconstituted quickly, with serious, transparent, and rigorous criteria." For the secretary of Più Europa, Riccardo Magi, "the government is hiding its hand after being caught cozying up to anti-vaxxers." The reaction from the scientific community has also been decidedly positive. The Pact for Science, which on August 7 launched a petition calling for the revocation of Serravalle and Bellavite's appointments, has called the revocation "a historic achievement." It has collected over 35,000 signatures in nine days. One of the petition's first supporters, along with Nobel laureate Giorgio Parisi, was pharmacologist Silvio Garattini, who today commented on the revocation of the appointments as "a necessary act. The minister was right to acknowledge that it was a mistake" and "it's nice to see that things can change when mistakes are made."

The National Federation of Medical Associations also reacted positively: "As doctors, we wholeheartedly agree with their statement: 'Health must be protected with scientific rigor,'" said Filippo Anelli, president of the Fnomceo. Finally, the Italian Society of Pediatrics also applauds Schillaci's decision, considering it "an act of courage and responsibility, which reaffirms the primacy of science in protecting citizens' health."