Vatican employees could lose their jobs because they refuse COVID vaccination

Vatican employees could lose their jobs because they refuse COVID vaccination

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Rome The Vatican has taken a hard line against employees who refuse to be vaccinated for COVID-19, warning that they could lose their jobs.

According to a decision by Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, whose role as president of the papal commission for the Vatican City State makes him the chief administrator, employees who refuse the vaccine are imposed ‘without proven health reasons’ for fines that could include interruption of work. relationship. ”

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

Vatican Media / Getty


Vatican City is the smallest independent state in the world that sits right in the heart of Rome. There are several thousand people employed, most of whom actually live outside the 100-acre walled area and live properly in Italy.

Those who do live within the walls of the Vatican tend to be elderly, such as the retired Pope Benedict XVI, 93, and Pope Francis, 84. The Pope vaccinated for COVID-19 last month and was a big proponent of vaccination in the global fight against the coronavirus.

“It’s an ethical choice because you are gambling with your health, with your life, but also with the lives of others.” Francis told an Italian TV station last month.

Vatican Christmas
On December 24, 2020, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

Vincenzo Pinto / AP


Bertello, who manages daily life in Vatican City, tested positive for the coronavirus in December. Less than 30 people in the Vatican contracted the disease.

Last month, the Vatican began vaccinating homeless people being cared for in the food and health facilities in the area.

The Vatican has set up a number of facilities under Francis to help Rome’s homeless population, providing areas for people to bathe and chop, as well as food and health care. This winter, it began offering free COVID tests to migrants and the homeless, directly under the window where the pope is delivering his Sunday Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square.

Vatican begins to vaccinate Rome's homeless against COVID-19
A group of homeless people cared for in structures cared for by the office of papal charities are waiting in the Vatican on January 20, 2021, to receive their first dose of coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine.

Vatican Media / Handout / REUTERS


Italy, once the center of the global pandemic, is now struggling with a second wave worse than its first, as well as new variants of the virus, such as the first discovered in the UK, which is now one in five new cases.

More than 94,000 deaths have been blamed on the virus in Italy, the second highest death toll in Europe behind the UK.

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