ROME: Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Monday fired Italy's special COVID-19 commissioner Domenico Arcuri and replaced him with an army general, as the country attempts to speed up vaccinations.

General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, the new commissioner, has been head of army logistics since 2018, Draghi's office said in a brief statement, thanking Arcuri for his "commitment and dedication ... in a moment of particular emergency for the country."