Vatican employees risk dismissal if they refuse the Covid vaccine

In a decree issued earlier this month, the cardinal who heads Vatican City State said employees who refuse to receive the COVID-19 vaccine when deemed necessary for their work could be subject to penalties until termination. of the employment relationship. The decree of 8 February by Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Pontifical Commission of the Vatican City State, gave employees, citizens and Vatican officials of the Roman Curia to follow regulations intended to control the spread of the coronavirus in Vatican territory, how to wear masks and maintenance of physical distances. Failure to comply with regulations could result in penalties. "The health emergency must be addressed to ensure the health and well-being of the working community while respecting the dignity, rights and fundamental freedoms of each of its members", states the document, signed by Bertello and Bishop Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, Article 1.

One of the measures included in the order is the Vatican's COVID vaccine protocol. In January, the city-state began offering the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine to employees, residents and officials of the Holy See. According to the Bertello decree, the supreme authority, together with the health and hygiene office, "has assessed the risk of exposure" to COVID-19 and its transmission to employees in the performance of their work activities and "may deem it necessary to start an estimate measure that provides for the administration of a vaccine to protect the health of citizens, residents, workers and the working community ". The decree provides that employees who cannot receive the vaccine for "proven health reasons" can temporarily receive "different, equivalent or, failing that, inferior tasks" which present lower risks of contagion, while maintaining the current salary. The ordinance also says that "the worker who refuses to undergo, without proven health reasons", the administration of the vaccine "is subject to the provisions" of article 6 of the Vatican City regulations 2011 on the dignity of the person and its fundamental rights. on health checks in the employment relationship.

Article 6 of the rules states that a refusal can entail “consequences of varying degrees that can go as far as termination of the employment relationship”. The Governorate of the Vatican City State issued a note on Thursday regarding the decree of February 8, stating that the reference to the possible consequences of refusing to receive the vaccine "in no case is sanctioning or punitive." It is "rather intended to allow a flexible and proportionate response to the balance between the protection of community health and the freedom of individual choice without putting in place any form of repression against the worker", the note reads. The message explained that the decree of 8 February was issued as an "urgent regulatory response" and "voluntary adherence to a vaccination program must, therefore, take into account the risk that any refusal by the person concerned could pose a risk to oneself, to others and to the work environment. "

In addition to vaccination, the measures contained in the decree include restrictions on gatherings of people and movement, the obligation to wear a mask correctly and to maintain physical distances and to observe isolation if necessary. The financial penalties for non-compliance with these measures mostly range from 25 to 160 euros. If it turns out that someone has broken a legal self-isolation or quarantine order due to COVID-19 or has been exposed to it, the fine ranges from 200 to 1.500 euros. The decree makes the Vatican gendarmes intervene when they see the non-compliance with the measures and issue the sanctions.