Via dei Condotti decorated with holiday lights is seen in Rome, Italy, on Dec. 11, 2021. (Xinhua)

 Italy's main priority in the phase of the COVID-19 pandemic is to keep schools open, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Monday, meanwhile defending the decision to make the vaccine mandatory for people aged 50 and above.

An increase in the practice of distant learning would be likely in the next weeks due to the Omicron variant, but "a widespread use of distance learning" must be avoided, Draghi told a joint press conference with health and education ministers. Under current anti-pandemic rules, a classroom has to be put entirely in distant learning mode when a certain number of pupils test positive. "It makes no sense to close schools while leaving other activities open, and we currently have no reasons to impose a general closure," he explained. He stressed that young people have been heavily affected by the closures called on schools and universities since the onset of the pandemic in the country.