The Vatican announced Tuesday that employees of the Vatican City State will be required to receive a coronavirus vaccine, regularly submit a recent negative COVID-19 test, or go without pay as of Oct. 1. Those without either will be deemed “unjustly absent” in the eyes of the church, which comes with the penalty of a lost salary. The Vatican has said it will not issue exemptions to the policy. Pope Francis himself was vaccinated in January. A staunch conservative critic of the pontiff, Cardinal Raymond Burke, continues to struggle with long-haul symptoms of the virus after being released from the hospital.
