Confusion and Lack of Enforcement as Italian ‘Super Green Pass’ Debuts

Protesters take part in a demonstration in Milan on July 24, 2021, against the introductio
MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images
Chris Tomlinson

As the Italian “Super Green Pass” vaccine passport debuted this week, some Italians have expressed confusion at the new regulations and reported a lack of enforcement by police.

The Super Green Pass, which only allows people to access bars, restaurants, and other venues by either being fully vaccinated or having proof of recovery from the Wuhan coronavirus, made its debut on Monday along with other stricter rules on unvaccinated people.

In Milan, people have expressed confusion with the new policy, with newspaper Il Giornale reporting that police are forced to conduct random checks for the pass, but don’t have enough officers to make the policy really effective.

Along with the Super Green Pass, the Italian government has mandated that traveling by public transport will require the former, and more widely accessible, Green Pass, which also gives unvaccinated people the option to produce a negative coronavirus test to be eligible. Those caught in violation of the measure may be fined up to €1,000 (£851/$1,133).

While some reported that police had checked their papers at Milan’s central train station, another man on the Milan metro system told the paper that he had not seen any police checks all day.

“I have been around since this morning. I took several trips but no one asked me for a shred of a document. Controls? I haven’t seen any,” the man told Il Giornale.

According to the paper, only 40 agents in teams of two are checking for the Green Pass on Milan’s public transportation system.

Pasquale Alessandro Griesi, provincial secretary of the Milan FSP state police, said that enforcing the Green Pass and Super Green Pass checks were difficult due to a lack of personnel and said police are already busy with their regular duties.

Antonio Nicolosi, Secretary-General of the Unarma Carabinieri Union, expressed the same concerns for the Carabinieri, Italy’s paramilitary police force, saying that the government needed to do more to drive recruitment in order to increase personnel.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com

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