Vaccine holdouts in Europe face restrictions as Delta variant spreads

The restrictions have had early success, pushing millions of French people to sign up for vaccination appointments in the past week and helping turn around a stalled campaign. The most recent data show that on average, 298,000 first shots have been administered a day, compared with 161,000 a day in early July.

In Italy, the number of daily first doses ticked up in the past two weeks as the government discussed making activities unavailable to the unvaccinated. In several of the country’s 20 regions, requests for a first shot doubled on Friday, the day after the new measures were announced, compared with what they had been at the beginning of the week.

“We can’t force people to get vaccinated, but those who don’t do it will have fewer opportunities,” Walter Ricciardi, a professor of public health and an adviser to Italy’s health minister, said in a newspaper interview.

But in deference to one of the daily rituals of millions of Italians, the vaccination requirement for indoor dining and drinking doesn’t apply to people having an espresso or cappuccino while standing at a bar.