Italy's health minister reports significant fall in covid-19 contagion levels among medical workers.

Italy is to get around 50 million doses of covid-19 vaccines in the second quarter of this year, reaching a total of up to 80 million in the third, announced health minister Roberto Speranza today.

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Speranza, a guest of television programme Accordi e Disaccordi, said that Italy is about to surpass six million doses administered under its covid-19 vaccination campaign, reports Italian news agency ANSA.

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The minister also said that contagion rates among Italy's health workers, who were the first people to get the vaccine, has "collapsed," and there were positive signs of a similar fall of infections in those aged over 80.

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Asked about the restrictive measures the Italian government is expected to introduce tomorrow, Speranza said:

“I would like to reopen everything but the numbers [of covid-19 cases] are growing, it is right that scientists ask for more rigorous measures due to the presence of the [virus] variants. The next few weeks will not be easy."