Italy's target is to vaccinate 54.3 million people by September.

Italy is aiming to vaccinate more than 54 million people against covid-19 by September, the government's coronavirus emergency commissioner General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo announced today.

The goal is "to vaccinate 80 per cent of the population by September this year, including 12-15 year olds, a total of 54.3 million Italians," Figliuolo said on the morning of 7 June.

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The general underlined the mission of the vaccination campaign is to "protect the health and life of our fellow citizens, re-establishing the conditions to favour the restart of the country," reports Italian news agency ANSA.

"We must not waste anything in terms of resources, people, time and means" - Figliuolo added - "Italy has everything, we just need to know how to put it together and in a coordinated manner."

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The announcement by Figliuolo comes the same day that four more Italian regions enter the lowest-risk white zone: Abruzzo, Liguria, Umbria and Veneto now join Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Molise and Sardinia.

The nationwide curfew - which does not apply in white zones - will be pushed back to midnight in the rest of the country, currently classified as a moderate-risk 'yellow' zone.

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The easing of the curfew coincides with a record number of anti-covid vaccinations in Italy this weekend, with 1.2 million jabs administered over the 48 hours between Friday and Saturday.

To date Italy has administered more than 38 million doses of covid vaccines, with 13 million people fully vaccinated, according to the latest figures released on 7 June.

For official information relating to the covid-19 situation in Italy - in English - see the health ministry website. Image: vaccination centre, Turin. Photo credit: MikeDotta / Shutterstock.com.