--- description: Massimiliano Fedrig, and Italian politician who opposed mandatory childhood vaccinations, was hospitalized with chickenpox. title: Italian Politician Who Opposed Mandatory Vaccinations Contracts Chickenpox image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ea5c7aff9e32821/698946f116d8847988c34ca2/massimiliano-fedriga-chickenpox.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Italy](/tag/italy/) ## Italy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Italian Politician Who Opposed Mandatory Vaccinations Contracts Chickenpox by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Mar 20, 2019 2:42 PM CUT  The President of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region Massimiliano Fedriga attends the Presentation at Palazzo Chigi of the Barcolana, the world's largest regatta to be held in Trieste,on September 26, 2018 in Rome, Italy. The President of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region Massimiliano Fedriga attends the Presentation at Palazzo Chigi of the Barcolana, the world's largest regatta to be held in Trieste,on September 26, 2018 in Rome, Italy.Simona Granati - Corbis—Corbis via Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Mar 20, 2019 2:42 PM CUT An Italian politician who opposed mandatory childhood vaccinations was recently hospitalized with chickenpox. Massimiliano Fedriga, who is part of the far-right League party, was under observation for four days earlier this month after getting chickenpox, according to [local news reports](https://www.repubblica.it/politica/2019/03/15/news/fedriga%5Fho%5Fpreso%5Fla%5Fvaricella%5Fma%5Fsui%5Fvaccini%5Fno%5Fai%5Fdiktat%5F-221640889/?refresh%5Fce "undefined"). It’s an ironic twist in fate for Fedriga, who opposed the introduction of the so-called [Lorenzin law](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47536981 "undefined") that made it mandatory for children to receive certain vaccinations for diseases including chickenpox, measles, mumps, polio and rubella. Parents can be fined up to $560 if they send their children to school unvaccinated. In opposing the law, Fedriga argued that parents shouldn’t be “coerced” into vaccinating their children, [The Independent reports](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/italy-vaccination-chickenpox-anti-vax-massimiliano-fedriga-salvini-a8829926.html "undefined"). He said in an [interview with an Italian outlet](https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2018/01/10/vaccini-fedriga-lega-nord-pd-stalinista-ha-bisogno-di-imporre-le-cose-ma-informazione-e-meglio-di-coercizione/4084515/?fbclid=IwAR3g-zsdBYw%5FYF1Z2F4vOu874LZbauPHr7jTeiHe9V45nECmBs4iAmiF968 "undefined") that the Democratic Party, which was the largest member of the coalition government at the time, was “Stalinist” for trying to “impose” the policy. Following his chickenpox contraction, Fedriga claimed in a [Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/massimilianofedriga/posts/10162034241635393 "undefined") that he does not oppose vaccines and that his children are vaccinated. “I have always said that I am in favour of vaccines, but to achieve the result it is necessary to have an alliance with families not imposition,” he wrote. Robert Burioni, an Italian microbiologist, said in a [Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/robertoburioniMD/posts/2902757446616086 "undefined") that he hopes Fedriga contracting chickenpox will impact other parents who are skeptical of vaccinations. “If he had infected a pregnant woman we would be facing a malformed child or an abortion,” Burioni wrote. “The only way we have to avoid these tragedies is to inoculate everyone to prevent the circulation of this dangerous virus, which could have hit a much more vulnerable person.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5554843/massimiliano-fedriga-chickenpox-vaccine/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5554843/massimiliano-fedriga-chickenpox-vaccine/"},"headline":"Italian Politician Who Opposed Mandatory Vaccinations Contracts Chickenpox","datePublished":"2019-03-20T14:42:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T23:05:08.274Z","description":"Massimiliano Fedrig, and Italian politician who opposed mandatory childhood vaccinations, was hospitalized with chickenpox.","url":"https://time.com/5554843/massimiliano-fedriga-chickenpox-vaccine/","keywords":["Italy","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ea5c7aff9e32821/698946f116d8847988c34ca2/massimiliano-fedriga-chickenpox.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ea5c7aff9e32821/698946f116d8847988c34ca2/massimiliano-fedriga-chickenpox.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Italian Daily News - September","caption":"Italian Daily News - September","creditText":"Simona Granati - Corbis—Corbis via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/italy/","name":"Italy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5554843/massimiliano-fedriga-chickenpox-vaccine/","name":"Italian Politician Who Opposed Mandatory Vaccinations Contracts Chickenpox"}}]}] ```