Published in Vaccine, the research estimates vaccines averted 4,000 to 12,000 deaths and 34,000 to 56,000 hospitalisations within 18 months from January 2022.

However, among the highlighted outcomes were the disparities in health outcomes for Maori.

The study pointed out that if Maori vaccination rates had matched those of Pakeha, up to 75 of the 292 Maori deaths could have been prevented.

Professor Michael Plank, a co-author and Covid-19 researcher, emphasised the importance of ensuring equal vaccination rates among Maori and non-Maori to save lives and lessen the pandemic's toll on Maori communities.

The authors say the Covid-19 elimination strategy meant most people were able to be vaccinated before being exposed to the virus.

New Zealand's early elimination strategy allowed widespread vaccination before widespread virus exposure, contributing to one of the lowest pandemic mortality rates globally.

This research reinforces the crucial role of vaccines in protecting health while also calling attention to the need for equitable health strategies in Aotearoa.

Source

• 1News

The basis of their objection is about the use of aborted foetal cells.

The cells, collected decades ago, are used to grow cells that the vaccines are tested on. There are no foetal cells in the vaccine.

The lawyer for the group of police and defence officers, Matthew Hague,​ said on Tuesday it was one ground in their case. It also stated that the vaccine mandate disproportionately affected Maori workers. Read more

Te Runanganui o Ngati Hikairo is concerned about the effect of these gatherings, which involved many unmasked supporters, babies and tamariki.

While Tamaki and his wife Hannah say they are not anti-vaccine, they describe themselves as "pro-choice". They and the Destiny Church have led outdoor gatherings and marches in various parts of the country.

Last Tuesday, for example, Wellington CBD came to a standstill as thousands of freedom protesters marched to Parliament challenging its Covid restrictions.

Recently the Freedoms and Rights Coalition has organised several other protests around the country - including Covid hot-spots like Auckland and Hamilton.

Tamaki's iwi is calling on him to take a "whanau first" approach and tell his supporters to do everything they can to stem the pandemic.

"We all have the right to safety, and the right to life! If they object to measures that protect other people's lives, in our view they are not fighting for justice or freedom," Te Runanganui o Ngati Hikairo chairwoman Susan Turner says.

"We have a responsibility to ask our people to do everything we can to protect one another."

Turner confirmed the Runanganui supports vaccines and "dot" passports as a way of managing the pandemic.

The fight against Covid has been a collective one and it was not justice or freedom, to pull apart the systems that are saving lives, she says.

The iwi is particularly concerned about Tamaki's messages and perspective because its homeland- in the area around Kawhia and Te Awamutu - is on the verge of a major outbreak.

Tamaki was charged last month with failing to comply with an order under the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act and Alert Level 3 Order by co-organising a lockdown protest in Auckland.

He has since appeared in court over breaching bail conditions.

Hannah Tamaki has been sharing her views on social media supporting those standing up for freedom and choice.

At last Tuesday's protest, she told them she was proud of them.

Destiny Church has not yet responded to media requests for comment.

Source

• NZ Herald
• Image:Otago Daily Times
  

One event concerned prominent Catholic leader and vaccine sceptic, US Cardinal Raymond Burke. He admitted he's still having breathing difficulties after being hospitalised for COVID-19.

Another involved a decree formalising the Vatican's decision regarding its employees. Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said everyone must be vaccinated or show proof of a negative COVID-19 test. Medical exemptions are possible, but religious exemptions are not offered.

Then there was the theme for the opening of the Vatican Pontifical Academy for Life's General Assembly: Catholics need to get vaccinated and help make it possible for others to do the same.

The Academy advocated for equitable distribution of vaccines and to combat vaccine scepticism.

Set against the vocal minority of Catholic vaccine sceptics, Burke and others with big audiences at their fingertips have yet to use their large platforms to encourage fellow Catholics to get vaccinated.

"We are actually witnessing the greatest vaccination effort ever made in history," Italian Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said. Echoing Pope Francis, he begged Western countries to combat global disparities when it comes to vaccine access.

"It is necessary to overcome not only the vaccination divide [in relation to vaccine sceptics] but also the unequal access to public health ...". This can involve removing barriers like a lack of facilities and managing treatment resources more wisely, he suggests.

According to American bioethicist Therese Lysaught, who is a corresponding member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, only about 10% of U.S. Catholics are vaccine-hesitant. Many simply want a space to "sit down face-to-face with someone and talk about their concerns," she said.

This isn't a one size fits all answer, however. "As far as I can tell, the resistance from some church officials and organizations is coming from a very different place," Lysaught said.

"Their statements consistently reflect a deep resistance to the legitimacy of government, often a veiled resistance to the papacy and leadership of Pope Francis, a troubling resistance to reason, and an unfortunate resistance to dialogue."

She's hoping the Academy will be able to help change this.

The Academy is "modeling the church's commitments to the absolute value of every human life, to truth, science, and reason, to cooperation with governments and other social organizations to promote the common good and to the constant process of dialogue," she said.

Another academy member made a similar comment, noting that both the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Academy have made it clear that the vaccines are morally acceptable.

It also protects others from being infected and that charity and respect for the common good argue for a moral duty to be vaccinated.

"Education, persuasion, the encouragement of local parishes to work with public health authorities to combat vaccine hesitancy and even sponsor health fairs in which unvaccinated persons can be vaccinated are all constructive ways forward that the Academy can endorse," he said.

"This is not ethical laxity. It is faithful, common sense, thoroughly Catholic reasoning."

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Crisis Magazine

Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky had already issued a mandate that all diocesan faculty and staff at Catholic schools must be vaccinated against the virus.

The diocese let go of "a handful" of employees who refused, Stowe says.

When it came to priests in the diocese, the bishop says he turned to "moral persuasion," urging them to get vaccinated to protect parishioners.

So far, about 92 percent of the diocese's 50 priests have been vaccinated, compared to just 61 percent of other fully vaccinated adults in Kentucky.

But for the few priests who chose not to be vaccinated, the bishop believes they should be upfront about their status. They owe it to their parishioners, he says.

"When I found out that four of them still were not vaccinated, I said they had to disclose that to their people because people were expecting they would be vaccinated," Stowe says.

He also told them "they couldn't go into the homes of the sick or the homebound or be in close proximity" to worshippers.

At least two priests revealed their status over the weekend. A videoed Mass shown a deacon reading the following statement:

"The bishop has asked that Father David and I ... are not vaccinated, so people can decide if they wanted to attend Mass where they were celebrating."

In an email to America magazine, one of the priests wrote that neither of them chose "...to make public comments, either within the liturgy or outside of it, about either our vaccination status or the reasons for our decision ..." to announce "... our vaccination status."

Stowe, who has received both positive and negative feedback about his vaccination stance, says he has no regrets mandating a vaccine for diocesan employees, especially those who work with children.

"Kids, especially those under 12, have no choice about whether they get vaccinated. And so it seemed to me that if teachers are going to be in a classroom with kids for several hours a day, in an enclosed space, they need to be vaccinated."

Pope Francis and many US bishops have encouraged Catholics to get vaccinated. Some bishops even say religious exemptions should not be given to individual Catholics who do not wish to be vaccinated.

Kentucky is experiencing surging Covid-19 infections. Hospitals are overwhelmed.

The now familiar please to wear masks, maintain good hygiene standards, stay home when unwell and get vaccinated are being repeated everywhere from the state governor's office down.

Yet still some people resist.

"People who continuously appeal to their right to privacy and the right to their individual conscience are losing sight of the common good," Stowe comments.

Persuading unvaccinated people to change their minds is "almost pointless at this moment.

"There's no rational persuasion that seems to work. They want to believe every conspiracy theory and everything they read on their preferred websites rather than the facts."

Most upsetting to him is that he feels Catholics who refuse to be vaccinated are ignoring a basic tenet of Catholic social teaching: the impetus to serve the common good.

Source

• America
• Image: Human Resources

Porteous has written to Tasmania's health minister, Jeremy Rockliff asking for the exemption.

He says he is "obligated to respect the decision of those members of the clergy who have a conscientious objection to receiving one of the COVID-19 vaccines currently available in Australia".

"There is currently no exemption from this mandate for reasons of conscience; and

"I am therefore obligated to respect the decision of those members of the clergy who have a conscientious objection to receiving one of the COVID-19 vaccines currently available in Australia and would ask that those with such an objection contact me directly to discuss how to manage this issue with regard to the provision of ministry in aged care facilities within their parish," writes Porteous.

However, Premier Peter Gutwein and Public Health officials have said the directive will not allow exemptions for people with a "conscientious objection" to the vaccine.

A Catholic lobby group in the Archdiocese says Porteous response should be to reassure these priests who think they cannot "in good conscience" be vaccinated.

"Concerned Catholics Tasmania"; a group committed to finding a voice for the laity and sharing their commitment to their Baptismal call and to their Church, say that Porteous' request runs counter to those of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference who in a media release supported vaccination.

"Catholics in Australia are encouraged to receive a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available to them.....it is morally permissible to accept any vaccine," say the Bishops in a media release on 20 April, 2021.

The bishops go on to say "There is a particular imperative to protect the health of those who are vulnerable."

Concerned Catholics Tasmania also refer to Pope Francis who described getting vaccinated as "an act of love".

The Catholic group told the ABC that a "sensible approach for our archbishop to adopt would be to reassure any priest, who is expressing reservations about being vaccinated, that he can be vaccinated with moral impunity".

"For us, anyone who visits an aged care facility in a pastoral/professional capacity without a vaccine would be morally derelict.

"Our archbishop needs to tell our priests that he will appoint vaccinated priests/chaplains to minister in those circumstances in the aged care space and ask the unvaccinated once to stand aside from their usual duties in aged care or any other ministry that requires them to have close contact with people," the group's statement said.

A number of Tasmanian priests have taken a counter-view to Porteous and are reporting to their congregation that they have been vaccinated.

One, Ben Brooks told his congregation on Sunday that he was fully vaccinated and that most priests in Tasmania were vaccinated.

"I thought it was very important to do that," Brooks said.

"From a priest's point of view, the safety of people, the community is important … I just wanted to make sure that people know that I had been vaccinated and I have no objection to it."

Porteous said he personally supported the rollout of approved COVID-19 vaccinations as a means for personal protection against the COVID virus and for the sake of the common good.

"I myself have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine," he said.

Sources

• ABC
• Concerned Catholics Tasmania

Take, for example, the evangelical church Celebration Centre in Christchurch. Its pastors have been posting online sermons to their flock.

In these, the Centre's founding pastors Murray and Nancy Watkinson​ have spoken often of their belief that humanity was in "the end times".

Depicted in the book of Revelations, the end times is a climactic battle between supernatural forces of good and evil before the return of Jesus Christ.

The Watkinsons say the end times will test the loyalty and allegiance of Christians.

The Covid-19 vaccine could be the "mark of the beast" he says. This is another "end times" idea in the Biblical look of Revelations.

Those without the mark, enforced by the anti-Christ, would be excluded from being able to buy, sell and trade, they say.

"What if you're not vaccinated, and they won't allow you to go in to a supermarket to actually shop?"

"It kind of feels like you are coming under a police state."

Despite noting he heard a scientist on a US Christian television talk show support vaxxing because "there was now scientific evidence it would prevent deaths and serious illness", Watkinson's not personally convinced.

"You'd have to be spiritually blind not to realise there's something going on behind the Covid," he says.

"They are already talking about another strain. They are talking about a booster, because they haven't been able to control it."

Destiny Church leaders, Brian and Hannah Tamaki, have gone public about their views. So are other online preachers like City Impact church leader Peter Mortlock​ and anti-vaxx preacher and conspiracy theorist Billy Te Kahika. This week Te Kahika held his first live social media video - a Bible study - since being arrested for an anti-lockdown protest on August 18.

Despite the few anti-vaxxers, most Christian churches and their congregations support vaxxing, just as they support the country's pandemic response.

Most are of the view that getting vaccinated saves lives, shows community spirit and neighbourly love, and allows us to make use of our God-given brains to protect ourselves rather than bleating about end times.

Both the Anglican and Catholic churches have actively set out to encourage everyone to front up for the jab.

Catholic bishop Stephen Lowe​ says support for the vaccine is the "consistent message from the Pope down". In New Zealand, the campaign, Love Your Neighbour As Yourself encourages those fearful of getting vaccinated because of misinformation.

Christchurch Anglican Bishop Peter Carrell says getting vaccinated "fits in with our consistent ethic for life, that this is actually about protecting other people in the community."

Reverend Fitifiti Luatua of the Samoan Congregational Christian Church says the vaccine is about saving lives.

He has been instrumental in getting mobile vaccine clinics to Pacific churches to improve access for parishioners.

Source

• Stuff
• Image:RNZ

The health ministry said the 10 million landmark was passed on Friday, beating the country's previous daily record of 9.2 million. The government has been stung by criticism after a brutal coronavirus wave in April and May killed more than 200,000 people.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the milestone as a "momentous feat" for the nation of 1.3 billion people.

"Kudos to those getting vaccinated and those making the vaccination drive a success," he said on Twitter.

Read More

Aupito William Sio is calling on district health boards to work closely with Pacific community groups to encourage more in the community to get the Covid-19 vaccine.

Sio's comments come following the mass vaccination event in south Auckland in July, which did little to increase the numbers for Pasifika vaccination.

Of the nearly 16,000 people who received their Covid-19 vaccine at the three-day mass vaccination drive in Manukau, only 1301 were Pasifika. Read more

Citing the need for the Catholic Church to "lead by example" and act responsibly to protect others during the coronavirus pandemic, Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso has said that all Church employees and ministry volunteers must be vaccinated.

"For the sake our brothers and sisters, I am requiring all those who are employed by the Church and all those who perform Church ministries including, but not limited to, catechists and Eucharistic ministers to be vaccinated," the bishop wrote.

Those who cannot be vaccinated due to "particular health issues" may seek an exemption, he said.

Board members at the National Catholic Bioethics Center have told CNA that Cardinal Blase Cupich has urged that the center retract its guidance against mandated immunization.

The board members who spoke with CNA said that they would oppose the change they say the cardinal is seeking.

One of the board members told CNA, "I think everyone should be vaccinated. Catholics should be the first to give a good example. There are legal precedents in which the state has mandated vaccines in extreme circumstances, but the conscience of religious people should be respected."

Mary Haddad, RSM, the CEO and president of the Catholic Health Association, agrees that more must be done now to halt the advance of the Delta variant.

"I believe that there is a moral responsibility for all in health care professions to be vaccinated, period," she said.

"I feel very strongly about that because you are potentially putting others at risk because of your inability to protect yourself and to do what you can in order to mitigate this increasing surge."

Catholic seminaries in the northeast of the USA are requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for their seminarians before the coming semester begins.

Mt Saint Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland is one of the colleges requiring students and seminarians to be vaccinated before coming to campus in August 2021.

At St John's Seminary in Boston, vice rector Fr. Thomas Macdonald said seminarians are "expected" to be vaccinated.

The job of a priest requires being close to the people, Macdonald noted. He told CNA that a priest needs access to places that house vulnerable people such as nursing homes.

St. John's is allowing seminarians to opt out of vaccination, but the seminarian must explain his reasoning for doing so.

The Holy Father was unambiguous in a January interview, "I believe that morally everyone must take the vaccine. It is the moral choice because it is about your life but also the lives of others."

Sources

Catholic News Agency

America Magazine

Catholic News Agency

Their campaign aims to fight against "echo chambers" of misinformation on social media amongst their communities.

"We know that 80 percent of Pasifika communities have some sort of affiliation with churches, church communities," says John Kleinsman, director of the Catholic Church's The Nathaniel Centre for Bioethics.

Kleinsman was talking on Newhub with Duncan Garner.

Using church communities to preach the good word about getting inoculated establishes a useful way to contact those who have not yet been inoculated, says Kleinsman.

"Our networks, we're able to use those to reach those people and get the message through to those people," he said, speaking of a combined church initiative in Newtown, Wellington.

Of concern is the possibility that vaccine uptake amongst Pasifika and Maori might be lagging behind other ethnicities, despite being more likely to be in a priority group.

Many older Maori and Pasifika as well as their carers were included in Group 2 for their COVID jabs (immediately behind priority staff like border workers).

Group 3 (the next cab off the rank) included people with underlying health conditions, which are typically more prevalent in Maori and Pasifika than others.

Just 6.1 percent of doses administered to date have gone to Pasifika, despite making up 7.4 percent of the population; and just 9 percent to Maori, despite being more than 16 percent of the population.

Whilst there might be other demographic reasons these numbers are lagging - such as the fact a high percentage of Maori and Pasifika are young, and still ineligible for the vaccine - Kleinsman suspects anti-vaccination misinformation and lies are creating hesitancy.

Kleinsman told Newshub that anti-vaccination activists have upped their activities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and while experts have repeatedly debunked the claims, the message doesn't appear to be getting through to some communities.

Source

• Newshub

Women religious and Catholic organisations who serve others every day are "our best hope for safe and fair distribution of vaccines.

"They are also the best tool for convincing people of the safety and importance of taking the vaccines," said Sr Carol Keehan, a nurse and Daughter of Charity.

The Church also has clear teachings about the need for more ethical ways to produce and test vaccines.

It has said that receiving vaccines is not participating or cooperating with the evil of abortion, she said during a recent online meeting sponsored by the Rome-based International Union of Superiors General.

The event was dedicated to how women religious can be leaders in bringing Gospel values to new models of the economy and health care. It was part of a series of meetings looking at ways sisters can empower other women and support those most affected and marginalised by the pandemic.

Sr Carol is the chair of the Vatican Covid-19 Commission's health task force.

She gave the more than 300 participants online an overview of the two main goals of the taskforce.

These are an equitable distribution of vaccines and treatments, and reducing the resistance to taking the vaccine.

People have been showing resistance to the vaccine for a number of reasons, she said, and so the taskforce created a "resource kit" for Church leaders and families, available in multiple languages on the commission's website.

"For years we have known that most vaccines are made and/or tested using stem cells grown in a laboratory that originated from a fetus aborted over 40 years ago. Almost all of us have had a vaccine made in this way," Sr Carol said.

"The Church has decades of theology and ethical teachings, asking that better ways of testing and producing vaccines should be a goal.

"But that taking these vaccines, or administering them to children, is not participating or co-operating with the evil of abortion," she said.

"In spite of this, a number of voices immediately started refusing to take the vaccines that had been made and or tested this way. Some of them were bishops in various dioceses, as well as priests and other teachers of the faith," she said.

Several Vatican dicasteries stepped in to clarify the Church's position on vaccines acceptability when no others are available.

And, she added, "Pope Francis has been very clear that it is a moral responsibility to take the vaccines to protect oneself, one's family and one's community from this deadly disease."

The church "cannot and must not remain on the sidelines" in building a better world, she said. This global problem must be faced "as a global family".

Sources

The Tablet

Catholic Universe

The pope, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, spent about 30 minutes chatting with people who came to the Vatican for their second dose of COVID-19 vaccinations. Many of them were from the area around the Vatican.

Francis personally greeted those waiting for their shots in the atrium of the Vatican audience hall. He also met those who had just been vaccinated and were under observation in case of an allergic reaction.

About 600 of the 1,400 people who received the first dose several weeks ago got their second shot on Friday. The remaining 800 will get their second dose in the next few weeks.

As they sang and shouted "auguri" (best wishes) for his name day, he offered them food and sweets. This included a giant chocolate Easter egg that volunteers cracked open, giving him a piece.

Francis, who has been vaccinated, said getting a shot is the ethical choice unless there are medical reasons not to.

Under Francis, the Vatican has set up several structures to help Rome's homeless population. These include a clinic, bathing facilities and hair-cutting services.

The Vatican also has begun a campaign that allows donors to contribute, via the website of the Vatican almoner's office, the cost of a vaccine destined for people in poor countries.

Called "vaccino sospeso" (suspended vaccine), it takes its name from the tradition of the "caffe sospeso" in Naples whereby people leave money to pay for a coffee for a needy person whose identity is known only to the bartender.

Pope Francis also greeted the volunteers helping run the vaccine clinic. He encouraged them to continue with their commitment to the poor, the press office said.

Sources

US News

Catholic News

The Office of Papal Charities is offering doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, purchased by the Holy See and offered by the Lazzaro Spallanzani Hospital through the Vatican COVID-19 Commission, to "the poorest and most marginalized people who, because of their situation, are the most exposed to the virus," according to a statement released March 26.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski oversees the Office of Papal Charities, the Vatican department that offers charitable assistance to the poor on behalf of the pope. Krajewski himself was hospitalized with COVID-19 for 10 days in December but recovered.

Read More

Dew made the offer at a meeting in Auckland between Church leaders of some of the country's major Christian faiths and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

As well as offering Church facilities, Dew spoke about the importance of vaccinations for the common good.

The meeting took place on Thursday, the week before the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care is to hear from several church leaders in response to survivor claims of sexual abuse.

Dew is one of those appearing in front of the Commission.

There is no comment on whether the Prime Minister accepted the Cardinal's offer.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss housing, poverty and the Covid-19 pandemic response including vaccination.

Those at the meeting included Anglican Archbishop Philip Richardson, Baptist Pastor Charles Hewett, Catholic Archbishop Cardinal John Dew, Methodist Church Vice-president Rev Etuini Talakai, Salvation Army Commissioner Mark Campbell and the Rev Dr Richard Waugh of the National Church Leaders Aotearoa New Zealand.

Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni and Housing Minister Megan Woods also attended, along with departmental officials.

Sources

• Facebook
• NZ Catholic Church media release

They have said the shots are moral and are needed urgently to save lives.

The barrage of differing philosophical opinions on the three approved vaccines were based on how central the use of fetal cell lines was in their production.

The lines are essentially reproductions of fetal cells from abortions done in the 1970s and 1980s. The shots themselves don't actually contain fetal cells.

Earlier this week, the chairs of the U.S. bishops' conference committees on doctrine and pro-life activities issued a statement advising Catholics awaiting a COVID-19 vaccine to choose, if possible, the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines over the recently approved Johnson & Johnson's.

This was due to a less remote connection between this newest vaccine and abortion. A previous statement by the New Orleans Archdiocese characterized the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as "morally compromised." A handful of other bishops have concurred.

Some Catholic leaders and medical professionals worried that the stream of criticism over the Johnson & Johnson shot could discourage devout Catholics from getting vaccinated. Some felt the need to say explicitly that getting a vaccine is not at all problematic morally, and there is an ethical imperative to do so.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith noted that due to the very production and distribution challenges currently in place in the U.S. and globally, "it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process."

They continue that due to the "grave danger" presented by the spread of the SARS-CoV2 virus that causes Covid-19, "all vaccines recognized as clinically safe and effective can be used in good conscience."

And they emphasize that while vaccination — like all medical interventions — is voluntary, there is a moral "duty to protect one's own health [as well as] the duty to pursue the common good."

A group of prominent conservative Catholic scholars said none of the vaccines developed in the U.S. so far should be seen as "more morally tainted" than one another.

The statement by the eight scholars noted that the abortion was not done in order to provide research material. The scientists working to develop the coronavirus vaccines decades later were not involved in the abortion. The cell line is so common for testing that "the great majority of processed/packaged food products available for sale in the United States are likely to contain ingredients produced or tested" with it.

Sources

National Catholic Reporter

Washington Post

A Feb. 8 decree by Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, the governor of Vatican City, said getting a vaccine was "the responsible choice" because of the risk of harming other people.

The decree said that those who cannot get vaccinated for health reasons may be given another position, presumably where they would have contact with fewer people. But they will receive the same pay even if the new post is a demotion.

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".

The Governorate of Vatican City State issued a statement on Thursday clarifying Covid-19 vaccinations within the Vatican. The statement said that "alternative solutions" would be found for those who do not want to get the vaccine.

The reference to the article in the 2011 law specifically mentioned the possibility of dismissal should not be seen as "sanctioning or punitive". It stated that "freedom of individual choice" would be respected.

Vatican City has several thousand employees, most of whom live in Italy. Its vaccination programme began last month with Pope Francis, 84, among the first to get the vaccine.

The Pope stated everyone should take the vaccine because those who didn't put their own and others lives at risk.

Pope Francis is a big supporter of vaccines to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The Vatican has made a COVID-19 vaccination obligatory for journalists accompanying the pope on his trip to Iraq next month.

The Vatican's vaccination programme began last month and Pope Francis, 84, was among the first to get the vaccine.

There have been fewer than 30 cases of coronavirus in the Vatican City. Most of the cases were among the Swiss Guard, who live in a communal barracks.

Sources

Vatican News

Reuters

UCA News

The president said that herd immunity would be achieved once "67% of our people" are immune. Saying that none are safe until all are safe, he stated that "we aim to make the vaccine available to all adults living in South Africa, regardless of their citizenship or residence status."

"We will be putting in place measures to deal with the challenge of undocumented migrants so that, as with all other people, we can properly record and track their vaccination history," Ramamphosa continued.

The bishops praised the "laudable" and "strong" commitment to vaccine inclusivity, but they raised concerns about the policy.

Read More