Italy: UK woman drives nine-year-old daughter to Milan for covid vaccine

Milan: A British mother has driven her nine-year-old daughter from the UK to Italy to have her vaccinated against covid-19.

The woman, Alice Chapman-Hatchett, made the 13-hour road trip from Maidstone to Milan so her daughter, who has Italian citizenship, could receive the covid vaccine.

In Italy children aged 5-11 can be vaccinated against the coronavirus however in the UK the under-12s can only be jabbed if they are classed as clinically vulnerable.

“We wanted her to go back to school safely and we took advantage of the fact that my husband is Italian,” the woman said in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

“We booked through the vaccine website, in the section dedicated to Italians residing abroad” – she told La Repubblica – “My child received the dose at the Desio hospital on 16 December. The appointment for the second dose is set for 7 January. I sincerely thank the Italian government for this possibility.”

Together with her husband and daughter, the woman – a public health professional – made the 1,130-km trip to Italy by car to minimise contact with other people.

Speaking to the BBC she said: “Why would I not give protection to the most precious thing in the world to me, my daughter, rather than run the risk of her turning round to me in five, 10, 15 years’ time, saying ‘Mum, I’ve got heart problems, I’ve got brain problems, I’ve got lung problems, why didn’t you do all you could at the time to protect me’?”

Stating that she feels “incredibly, incredibly sorry” for parents in the UK who share her opinion and would like to get their children vaccinated, she told the BBC: “I’d rather risk a vaccine we know a fair amount about than take pot luck with a virus about which we know very little.”

Asked by La Repubblica her daughter’s view on the vaccine, Chapman-Hatchett said: “She was very happy to get vaccinated, for her it is a normal thing because her cousins in Italy did it too. And she understands perfectly that it is a protective measure first of all for herself.”