Life has become more inconvenient for unvaccinated Italians. Indoor restaurants, theaters, and museums are now closed to those who cannot show a green ”super health passport.”.

Italian police can use apps to check whether a person has the highest level of green health passport, meaning they are either fully vaccinated or have recently had an infection.

Anyone with only a negative Covid test – the lower level of health passport – will no longer be welcome at restaurants, concerts, cinemas or museums. However, they are allowed to travel by public transport and check into hotels.

The measure will be in effect until January 15.

Dozens of police officers checked various traffic hubs in Rome on Monday, and were met with mostly cooperative commuters. A 50-year-old man was the first to be fined 400 euros for getting off a bus at Flaminio station without the basic health pass, said Rome's deputy police chief Stefano Napoli.

However, few checks were noticed at the central station. Commuter Veronica Bianchi was not asked about her health passport when she arrived in Milan by regional train, she says, adding:

”But they didn’t check the ticket either.”

The number of new Covid cases has increased in the last six weeks in Italy, even before the new omicron variant became known. Vaccination rates are relatively high; 77 percent of the entire population. But people between the ages of 30 and 50 have proven to be the least likely to get vaccinated, and 3.5 million have not yet received a first dose.TT