1731-7398 A comparison of the differences in public risk perception and public health policies between the first and the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Italy  Magnavita Nicola author Chirico Francesco author Sacco Angelo author Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore 03h7r5v07 Department of Woman, Child & Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli, Rome, Italy Health Service Department, Italian State Police, Milan, Italy Local Sanitary Unit Roma 2, Rome, Italy. Correspondence to: Nicola Magnavita nicolamagnavita@gmail.com Correspondence to: Francesco Chirico Correspondence to: Angelo Sacco 21 12 2021 Tom 19, Numer 1 2021 3 6 Copyright © 2021 2021 <p>The paper presents the information on COVID-19 policy response in Italy inin the second half of 2020, when the second wave of the pandemic occurred. It builds on the authors previous report (1) that addressed the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Italy, from October till December, the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections increased significantly. However, the Italian government, unlike many other European governments, refrained from introducing a second nationwide lockdown.  The pandemic was managed through a system of localized interventions (on a regional and / or provincial basis) which significantly varied across the regions. At the end of December 2020, a national plan for vaccination against COVID-19 was approved. In February 2021, together with the change of government, a new public policy against the COVID-19 pandemic was formulated. </p> 1 Magnavita N., Chirico F., Sacco A., The First Wave in Italy: Pros and Cons, “Zeszyty Naukowe Ochrony Zdrowia. Zdrowie Publiczne i Zarządzanie” 2020; 1. 2 Teixeira da Silva J.A., Tsigaris P., The role of lockdowns and health policies for COVID-19 in Italy, “Italian Journal of Medicine” 2021; 15 (1): 1–6. 3 Chirico F., Il rischio biologico nella scuola, Edizioni FS, Milano, Italy 2020. 4 Motta Zanin G., Gentile E., Parisi A., Spasiano D., A Preliminary Evaluation of the Public Risk Perception Related to the COVID-19 Health Emergency in Italy, “International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health”2020; 17 (9): 3024, doi: 10.3390/ijerph17093024. 5 Italy Coronavirus: 3,356,331 Cases and 104,642 Deaths, Worldometer,  https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/italy/?filter_by=review_high&amp;fbclid=IwAR3w8DlcyaRvzzW4BC90vID4znE9Zf-QqkWtf1m9sb1I_Ak80t9Y9hrSr6I&amp;page=4&amp;utm_campaign=targetingMN&amp;utm_medium=display&amp;utm_source=facebook (accessed: 4.04.2021). 6 Jones G., Parodi E., Italy’s National UnitySsplinters in Face of COVID-19 Second Wave, 9 Nov 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-disunity-idUSKBN27P1J9  (accessed: 21.03.2021). 7 Armocida B., Formenti B., Ussai S., Palestra F., Missoni E., The Italian Health System and the COVID-19 Challenge, “The Lancet Public Health”2020; 5 (5): e253, doi: 10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30074-8. 8 Coccia M., How is the Impact on Public Health of Second Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic cCompared to the First Wave? Case Study of Italy, MedRxiv, 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.16.20232389. 9 Chirico F., Sacco A., Nucera G., Magnavita N., Coronavirus Disease 2019: The Second Wave in Italy, “Journal of Health Research”, February 2021 (ahead-of-print), doi: 10.1108/JHR-10-2020-0514. 10 IPSOS, https://www.ipsos.com/it-it/litalia-ai-tempi-del-coronavirus-24deg-update (accessed: 4.04.2021). 11 Garattini L., Zanetti M., Freemantle N., The Italian NHS: What Lessons to Draw from COVID-19?, “Applied Health Economics Health Policy”2020; 18 (4): 463–466, doi: 10.1007/s40258-020-00594-5. 12 Italy: COVID-19 – EIB Lends € 2 Billion for the Healthcare System,  https://www.pressreleasepoint.com/italy-covid-19-eib-lends-2-billion-healthcare-system (accessed: 21.03.2021). 13 European Commission, Safe COVID-19 vaccines for Europeans, https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/coronavirus-response/safe-covid-19-vaccines-europeans_en (accessed: 4.04.2021). 14 Ministero della Salute, Guidelines of the Strategic Plan on COVID-19 Vaccines Approved by Parliament, http://www.ministerosalute.it/portale/nuovocoronavirus/dettaglioNotizieNuovoCoronavirus.jsp?lingua=italiano&amp;menu=notizie&amp;p=dalministero&amp;id=5208 (accessed: 4.04.2021). 15 Mario Draghi Becomes Italy’s New Prime Minister after Weeks of Infighting, CBC News, https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/italy-draghi-new-government-1.5912582  (accessed: 4.04.2021). 16 Italy’s Draghi Fires COVID Commissioner, With Vaccination Drive in Spotlight, Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-commisioner-idUSKCN2AT2U9  (accessed: 4.04.2021).