Covid, here's the free vaccine for everyone over 60 against the latest variant

With the circular "Indications and recommendations for the 2025/2026 autumn/winter anti-Covid-19 vaccination campaign," the Ministry of Health officially opens the autumn season for combating the coronavirus that caused the 2020 pandemic.

Recalling that Sars-CoV-2 is "characterized by continuous variations in its genome during replication, giving rise to the continuous emergence of variants and subvariants" and that vaccines must therefore be adapted accordingly, this year the updated Comirnaty LP.8.1 serum will be used, already authorized by EMA and AIFA and which will be distributed to the Regions in the coming weeks.

Given the current epidemiological situation, the Ministry has outlined a series of guidelines and recommendations for the 2025/2026 autumn/winter vaccination campaign against the disease.

A booster dose of the updated LP.8.1 vaccine will be actively offered to all people over 60, residents of long-term care facilities, pregnant women, breastfeeding women and those in the postpartum period, doctors and other healthcare personnel, as well as medical and healthcare students doing internships in healthcare settings and staff in training. Furthermore, between 6 months and 59 years of age, the vaccine will be offered to all those who are vulnerable due to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, oncological diseases, respiratory diseases, kidney failure, as well as to those with Down syndrome and people with recognized severe disabilities, transplant recipients or those waiting to receive one, and those with immunodeficiencies.

Furthermore, it is recommended that family members, caregivers and cohabitants of people with serious frailties get vaccinated and even having recently contracted Covid, after the previous booster (the booster dose is annual), does not represent a risk.