Italy's vaccination campaign is moving faster than the EU average, the Italian premier Mario Draghi said in the senate on Wednesday morning. Speaking ahead of the European Council summit on 20-21 October, Draghi said that as of today 86 per cent of the Italian population over the age of 12 has had at least one dose of the covid vaccine while 81 per cent are fully vaccinated.

"After a slow start, the European vaccination campaign has achieved very satisfactory results", Draghi said, with "almost four out of five adults" in the EU having at least one dose of the vaccine. Draghi thanked "all citizens who have chosen to be vaccinated, especially the young and very young, and those who have decided to do so in recent weeks after overcoming their hesitations."