Vatican officials may lose their jobs for refusing the COVID vaccine

Vatican officials may lose their jobs for refusing the COVID vaccine

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Pomegranate – The Vatican has taken a tough stance against employees who refuse to be vaccinated with COVID-19, warning that they are at risk of losing their jobs.

According to a decree by Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, whose role as chairman of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State makes him the top administrator of the territory, employees who refuse the vaccine “without proven health reasons” face penalties that can include ” interruption of work. relationship. ”

Vaccination in the Vatican
A photograph provided by Vatican Media shows a room in the atrium of Paul VI’s audience, ready for a COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Vatican City State, January 13, 2021 in Vatican City.

Vatican Media / Getty


Vatican City is the smallest independent state in the world, located right in the heart of Rome. It employs several thousand people, most of whom actually live outside the 100 walled acres and within Italy itself.

Those residing within the walls of the Vatican tend to be elderly, such as retired Pope Benedict XVI, 93, and Pope Francis, 84. The Pontiff was vaccinated for COVID-19 last month and has been a strong advocate for inoculation in the global fight against coronavirus.

“It is an ethical choice because you are playing with your health, with your life, but you are also playing with other people’s lives,” Francis told an Italian TV station last month.

Vatican Christmas
Pope Francis celebrates Mass on Christmas Eve in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on December 24, 2020.

Vincenzo Pinto / AP


Bertello, who takes care of everyday life in Vatican City, tested positive for coronavirus in December. Less than 30 people in the Vatican have contracted the disease.

Last month, the Vatican began vaccinating homeless people who are cared for in the territory’s food and health facilities.

Under Francis’ government, the Vatican set up a series of facilities to help the homeless population of Rome, offering areas for people to bathe and get a haircut, as well as food and medical assistance. This winter, he started offering free COVID tests for migrants and homeless people, directly below the window where the Pope makes his Sunday Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square.

Vatican starts vaccinating homeless people in Rome against COVID-19
A group of homeless people who are served in facilities administered by the office of the papal institutions hopes to receive the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine (COVID-19), in the Vatican, on January 20, 2021.

Vatican Media / Brochure / REUTERS


Italy, once the epicenter of the global pandemic, now faces a second wave worse than the first, as well as new variants of the virus, such as the first discovery in the UK, which now accounts for one in five new cases .

More than 94,000 deaths have been attributed to the virus in Italy, the second highest number of deaths in Europe, behind the United Kingdom.

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