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VATICAN: Get Vaccinated, Tested, or Lose Pay
The Vatican recently issued a vaccine mandate that requires employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, submit to regular testing, or lose pay.
According to the Washington Post, the new mandate will require everyone in the Vatican's City/State to be vaccinated by October 1st or agree to frequent, regular testing. Failure to do so will result in the Vatican considering the non-conforming employee to be "unjustly absent", resulting in loss of pay/compensation.
The Vatican is following in the footsteps of other corporate entities including airlines, hospital groups, the Department of Defense, McDonald's, Facebook, and Ford Motor Company.
According to the story, the Vatican has not yet allowed ANY exemptions from the policy, but those who wish to claim an exemption will have their request reviewed by the Secretariat of State.
The Catholic Church's supreme leader himself was vaccinated earlier this year, and refers to being vaccinated as a "moral obligation". The Vatican went so far as to put together a Public Service Announcement with the Ad Council on the importance of getting vaccinated.
According to the story from the Washington Post, it is mostly in the United States that Catholics are trying to get a religious exemption from taking the coronavirus vaccine. Even though, around 82% of Catholics in the United States have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
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