Facebook will make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for office staff across its US branches. This is in response to the rise in the number of infections across the country.
The company’s Veep of People, Lori Goler, wrote the following:
As our offices reopen, we will be requiring anyone coming to work at any of our US campuses to be vaccinated. How we implement this policy will depend on local conditions and regulations. We will have a process for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons. [And we] will be evaluating our approach in other regions as the situation evolves. We continue to work with experts to ensure our return to office plans prioritize everyone’s health and safety.”
COVID-19 Cases in the US
As of July 28, 2021, the US had recorded over 34 million Covid-19 Cases with 628,083 deaths. And California, Facebook’s primary home, has one of the highest rates of infections. However, some 163 million people across the country have now been vaccinated. That figure represents 49.8% of the population.
Facebook’s Measures to Protect Staff From Covid-19
On June 9, Facebook announced that it’ll give permanent staff the option to work remotely. Additionally, the company said it’ll reopen “most of its US offices at 50% capacity by early September”, and hopefully at 100% capacity in October.
Moreover, search giant, Google, has made a similar call. Google CEO Sundar Pichai told employees the following:
Anyone coming to work on our campuses will need to be vaccinated. We’re rolling this policy out in the U.S. in the coming weeks. [And we] will expand to other regions in the coming months. The implementation will vary according to local conditions and regulations. And [it’ll] not apply until vaccines are widely available in your area.”
Experts say the delta variant is “twice as transmissible as the original virus.” It is the cause of the recent hike in the rates of COVID-19 cases. So Facebook’s COVID-19 preventive measure across its US offices is a laudable one.
