Some pharmacies in Rome are printing up to 120 Green Passes a day.

Rome pharmacies say they are under pressure dealing with requests to print the 'Green Pass', the document proving that people have been vaccinated, tested negative or recovered from covid-19.

From 6 August the health certificate will be required for indoor dining in restaurants and bars as well as being mandatory for access to museums, cinemas, gyms, swimming pools and sports stadiums.

The Green Pass can be downloaded from the Certificazione Verde website or - equipped with the tessera sanitaria health card - people can obtain it from their doctor or pharmacy.

• Italy to require covid Green Pass for restaurants, cinemas and gyms

Andrea Cicconetti, president of the Rome branch of the Italian pharmacy owners federation Federfarma, told news agency ANSA that pharmacies in the capital "have been reduced to print shops."

"By this stage we are printing Green Passes madly," says Cicconetti, "Some people come with tessere sanitarie for the entire family and even ask for extra copies."

Describing it as a "big problem," Cicconetti says: "It's one thing is to print 10 Green Passes a day and another to print 100 - 120", adding: "All this has a cost both in economic terms and in terms of time, which is taken away from people who are ill and are queuing up to get medicine or perhaps oxygen."

• Italy faces wave of Green Pass protests

When Italian premier Mario Draghi announced the expanded scope of the Green Pass last Thursday night, it triggered a fierce debate in Italy.

Those in favour believe it will incentivise people into getting vaccinated and reduce the spread of covid-19, while those against the vaccine say they are being penalised for choosing not to be vaccinated.

In the days following Draghi's announcement, during which he urged people to get vaccinated, Italy has witnessed a wave of protests as well as a surge in vaccination bookings.

• Green Pass: Rome surge in vaccine bookings

"The use of vaccine certificates is needed to keep the economy open” - Draghi said - “An invitation not to get vaccinated is an invitation to die, or to let others die. No vaccines mean a new lockdown.”

On Monday the country's coronavirus emergency commissioner General Figliuolo said that Italy was on track to have 80 per cent of the population vaccinated by the end of September.

Details about the Green Pass can be found - in Italian - on the Certificazione Verde website while for official information about the covid-19 situation in Italy - in English - see the health ministry website.

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