The vaccine commission mess: Schillaci's step back and the clash within the majority: what happened?

After the storm of controversy, Health Minister Orazio Schillaci has broken the deadlock and reversed the appointments of Paolo Bellavite and Eugenio Serravalle to the National Technical Advisory Group on Vaccinations (NITAG). Schillaci has just signed the decree revoking the entire NITAG, appointed about ten days ago, without further delay, as had been suggested by Palazzo Chigi (Brothers of Italy), which had requested postponement of the matter until September. Faced with pressure from political circles—within the majority, Forza Italia, for example, had been immediately critical—and from the entire scientific community to revoke the appointments of those who have publicly expressed anti-vaccine positions, the Health Minister has decided not to delay any longer and to dismiss the entire commission, which will now have to be reconstituted after the summer break. A summer incident that risks leaving some repercussions on the majority, which even in the recent past has had to deal with pressure from the anti-vax movement within it: from the appointment of the commission of inquiry into Covid to Italy's decision not to adhere to the new WHO health regulations to the still-unapproved pandemic plan.

It all began on August 5, when Minister Schillaci signed the decree appointing this independent body, which provides support to the Ministry of Health in formulating evidence-based recommendations regarding vaccinations and vaccination policies, such as the expansion of immunization campaigns such as those for influenza, COVID-19, and other mandatory pediatric vaccines. Schillaci appointed the 22 members who will define national vaccination strategies for the next three years. Among the members of the NITAG are two doctors, Eugenio Serravalle and Paolo Bellavite, who previously criticized vaccination policies during the pandemic, and even before, taking aim at the mandatory pediatric vaccinations introduced in 2017. These two appointments sparked a reaction from virtually the entire scientific community: from the Italian Society of Hygiene to the Italian Medical Association (Fnomceo), to many other medical-scientific societies (pediatricians, immunologists, neonatologists, and others). Even one of the world's most prestigious scientific journals, the British Medical Journal (BMJ), has returned to the controversy surrounding the appointments to the new NITAG with a dedicated editorial. The Transversal Pact for Science has launched a petition calling on Minister Schillaci to reverse the appointment, with over 21,000 signatures, including pharmacologist Silvio Garattini , Nobel Prize winner Giorgio Parisi , and infectious disease specialist Matteo Bassetti.

The affair also had political repercussions within the majority, sparking a tug-of-war between Minister Schillaci and the Brothers of Italy wing, which reportedly provided the recommendations for appointing the two vaccine-critical doctors. Parts of the League, and especially Forza Italia, were highly critical of the two appointments. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Palazzo Chigi Undersecretary Giovanbattista Fazzolari also reportedly took an interest in the matter, asking Minister Schillaci to take his time and postpone any decision until after the summer break. But the avalanche of controversy convinced Schillaci not to delay and to press ahead with the dismissal of the entire newly appointed commission, despite the call for time, even raising the possibility of resignation, which was later denied. The initial controversy was sparked by Francesca Russo , director of prevention for the Veneto region and coordinator of the regional prevention area, who decided to resign from the Nitag immediately after the appointment precisely because of the presence of the two "anti-vax" doctors. This decision was supported by Luca Zaia, the Northern League governor of Veneto, while League MPs Alberto Bagnai and Claudio Borghi , also members of the Covid commission, continued to defend the appointments of Bellavite and Serravalle. The opposition—from the Democratic Party to the Italian Socialist Party—joined in calling on Minister Schillaci to reverse the two appointments. Forza Italia also criticized the appointments, including Letizia Moratti , president of the Forza Italia National Council and a member of the European People's Party (EPP), who described the "appointment of two well-known anti-vax figures within the National Anti-Vaccine Committee" as a "serious setback in the credibility of our country's healthcare institutions. At a time when trust in science and medicine is more crucial than ever, we cannot allow ideological or politically motivated reasons to undermine the pillars of public health."