Vatican updates COVID-19 guidelines, as well as relaxations of the vaccination requirement and the masking restrictions

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican has modified its COVID-19 rules, which means that most workers and tourists now entering Vatican City State,  do not have to provide a vaccination record or other evidence that they have recovered from their illness.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican's secretary, issued a decree on June 2 that was printed by the Vatican news publication, L'Osservatore Romano. In the declaration, Cardinal Parolin stated that people were allowed to enter the dicasteries, entities, and headquarters that had the Roman Curia and the organizations linked with the Holy See, even without a vaccine certificate identified as a "super green pass."

Those who were not vaccinated for reasons unrelated to their health were subjected to even greater restrictions as a result of Italy's "super green pass" policy, which stipulated that the only people eligible for the pass were those who were either fully immunized or who had just recovered fully from the illness.

Nevertheless, the directive declared that the vaccination requirement "remained in place for the Swiss Guards."

Cardinal Parolin also relaxed the restrictions for wearing a mask at the Vatican, issuing a decree that said that wearing masks inside or in big meetings, despite the fact that it was no longer necessary, "was highly advised."

However, "the responsibility to follow health rules for hand hygiene and the regular ventilation and periodical disinfecting of rooms continues," as stated in the decree.

After a 10-day quarantine period and a negative test result, unvaccinated workers who had links with people who screened COVID-19 positive are permitted to go back to their workplaces. However, they are required to stay out of the office for the duration of the confinement. However, immunized personnel who had interaction with those who are positive for the disease are allowed to continue to work promptly; however, they are expected to use high-filtering FFP2 masks inside, as stated in the statement.