"Getting vaccinated is a choice of responsibility and a duty, especially for those who work in contact with the sick and the most fragile. It is necessary to protect one's own health and to protect that of others. I will get vaccinated as soon as possible”. This is the appeal launched by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, in the traditional address to the nation for the end of the year. "Science offers us the strongest weapon, prevailing over ignorance and prejudices", added the Head of State, implicitly criticizing deniers and conspiracy theorists.
Mattarella underlined “the need to preserve the memory of what we have experienced this year. The pandemic has exacerbated old inequalities and generated new ones. We have lost jobs: women and young people have been particularly penalised. Many companies fear for their future and some sectors have suffered more than others”.
At the same time, however, according to the President, "signs have emerged that encourage concrete hope, so that fear does not prevail". First of all, the EU "was able to take a leap forward" and "it wasn't obvious", given that, in the face of the crisis of ten years ago, "national selfishness" prevailed, together with "old political and economic canons" which "showed all their inadequacy". Today, however, "prospects rest on new foundations" and, according to Mattarella, "Italy has been the protagonist of this change".
The Head of State then launched a call to political forces, underlining that “seriousness, a spirit of collaboration and a sense of duty are necessary to restart. Let's change what needs to be changed, courageously putting ourselves back into the game. Everyone does their part." Also because "the coming months are decisive: no distractions are allowed, no time should be wasted in pursuing illusory partisan advantages".
As for the 2021, "it must be the year of the defeat of the virus and the beginning of the recovery – continued the President of the Republic – The pandemic has accentuated the limits and delays of our country: there have also been mistakes; more and better could have been done, probably yes, as always. But what has been done, which has made it possible to keep the country on its feet, should not be ignored. We have had the ability to react: we are not at the mercy of events. Now we have to start again: this is the time for builders”.
Finally, Mattarella underlined that what begins will be his “last year as President of the Republic and will coincide with the first year of the restart. It will be a year of intense work, but we have the resources to do it".
Read the full text of the end-of-year message.
