Starting on August 6th, all Italians over the age of 12 will have to present a vaccine passport or “Green Pass” to eat indoors in restaurants or engage in other activities such as going to gyms and theatres.
The new decree, which was adopted by the Italian Council of Ministers, will require a Green Pass to be presented to drink or eat indoors, although outdoor dining will not require the pass.
Gyms, cinemas, and theatres will all require the pass to be shown as well as theme parks, spas, pools, and major events, newspaper Il Giornale reports.
Sporting events, such as football, will require the Green Pass, and capacity for outdoor sporting events will not exceed 50 per cent capacity.
Capacity for indoor sporting and cultural events will remain at 25 per cent.
Nightclubs and discos were expected to get the green light to open with the Green Pass but the government has decided not to open them for now.
Businesses that do not check for the Green Pass when it is mandatory could face fines between 400 to 1,000 euros — much less than France, where business owners face fines of up to 45,000 euros and a year in prison.
The Italian pass regime requires that an individual is either fully vaccinated against the Wuhan virus with two doses, or has had one dose of vaccine, or has had a negative coronavirus test no older than 48 hours.
In France, the vaccine passport is required for certain modes of transport such as trains and aeroplanes. In Italy, however, the government has yet to decide whether the Green Pass will be required to use trains, aeroplanes, ships, buses, and subways.
The issue was left out of the new decree but is expected to be debated in the coming days and weeks prior to the start of the new school year in September.
Just weeks ago, the Italian state-run train company Trenitalia stated that it wanted customers to be forced to present the Green Pass to use high-speed trains. The company argued that it could increase the capacity of the trains to a hundred per cent by requiring the pass.
Populist leader Senator Matteo Salvini has been critical of the vaccine passport policy and has argued that it should only be required for large sporting events and concerts.
Earlier this week, he stated that it was unfair to launch the programme now as so few people have the vaccine and it could take until October to get everyone vaccinated.