Compulsory vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in health care professionals in Italy: Bioethical-legal issues.

ABSTRACT

On 17 March 2022, the Italian Council of Ministers, by means of Press Release No. 67, sanctioned the extension of the vaccine obligation against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) for health workers until 31 December 2022. Healthcare workers who do not demonstrate that they have adequate vaccination coverage will be suspended from work and will not be paid. Recently, the Council of Administrative Justice of Sicily has identified possible contrasts between the vaccine obligation of health professionals and numerous constitutional principles, paving the way for an interesting bioethical-legal debate on the subject. The aim of this article is to examine the possible profiles of unconstitutionality of the measure of the Italian Government and to identify medico-legal and bioethical issues potentially related to the vaccine obligation for health professionals in a context of resolution of the emergency phase related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.