An unidentified man said to be a teacher in Italy has set himself on fire after he was suspended from work for not complying with the European country’s Covid-19 vaccine mandates.
A disturbing video shared by Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke), a professor of applied economics at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, on Twitter, shows the Italian burning and screaming.
However, some concerned citizens rushed towards the burning man with fire extinguishers to put out the fire.
“In Italy, a man set himself on fire in protest of vax mandates after losing his job. Take a look,” Hanke tweeted on Monday.
LaGaia (@GaiaGaia1905), who commented on the post, noted that the man “is a teacher, 33 years old, suspended from work for 3 months because he is unvaccinated.
“It happened in the small town Rende (near Cosenza).”
In Italy, a man set himself on fire in protest of vax mandates after losing his job. Take a look.pic.twitter.com/uhVTmuqIYo
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— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) January 31, 2022
Ananas Skaiwokker (@MauritsB2) also reacted to the tweet, “Extremely sad and disturbing, but very important to show this footage to the world to show how extreme these covid measures can impact someone’s life. This is pushing fragile people over the edge and it needs to stop.”
Another tweep, M SBF B2 (@2Ftcrlqqf), wrote, “In Italy, those who don’t comply with mandates are suspended 4 to 6 months without pay.”
Italy in January made COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for people from the age of 50, one of very few European countries to take such a step, in an attempt to ease pressure on its health service and reduce fatalities, Reuters earlier reported.
The measure became immediately effective and will run until June 15.
Italy has registered more than 138,000 coronavirus deaths since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain.
It was reported that Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government had already made vaccination mandatory for teachers and health workers, and since October 2021, all employees had had to be vaccinated or show a negative test before entering the workplace.
Refusal to comply will result in suspension from work without pay, but not dismissal.
The decree was approved after a two-and-a-half-hour cabinet meeting which saw frictions within Draghi’s multi-party coalition.
