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 A decree by Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, effectively the governor of
Vatican City, said getting a vaccine was "the responsible choice"
because of the risk of harming other people.
Vatican City, at 108 acres the world's smallest state, has several
thousand employees, most of whom live in Italy. Its vaccination
programme began last month and Pope Francis, 84, was among the first
to get the jab.
The seven-page decree says that those who cannot get vaccinated for
health reasons may be given another position, presumably where they
would have contact with fewer people, but will receive the same pay
even if the new post is a demotion.
But the decree said those who refuse to get a vaccination without
sufficient reason would be subject to a specific provision in a 2011
law on employee rights and duties.
The article in the 2011 law says employees who refuse "preventive
measures" could be subjected to "varying degrees of consequences
that could lead to dismissal".
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 The decree was signed on Feb. 8
and later posted on the website of the
governor's department.
Pope Francis is a big supporter of vaccines to
stem the spread of the coronavirus.
"It is an ethical choice because you are
gambling with your health, with your life, but
you are also gambling with the lives of others,"
he said in an interview with an Italian
television station last month.
The Vatican has made a COVID-19 vaccination
obligatory for journalists accompanying Pope
Francis on his trip to Iraq next month.
Bertello, who signed the decree, tested positive
for coronavirus in December and went into
self-isolation.
There have been fewer than 30 cases of
coronavirus in the Vatican City, most of them
among the Swiss Guard, who live in a communal
barracks.
(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Gareth
Jones)
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