Apple is now demanding corporate and retail employees to provide confirmation of up-to-date COVID-19 vaccination Booster as per a report by The Verge. The Verge reported it received internal emails stating the company’s retail store employees will be asked to provide proof of a COVID-19 booster if they choose to enter an office or store from February 15. Apple has decided that non-vaccinated employees or those who have not provided their proof of vaccination will need to start testing before entering workspaces and preventing the coronavirus pandemic from affecting its business.
Starting Jan. 24,non-vaccinated workers or those who haven’t shown confirmation of vaccination will be needed to submit a negative test for COVID-19 before entering Apple’s offices, the report said. The iPhone maker’s is making all of these efforts to save its workers from this growing Omricon surge, Apple employees will now have to prove they have gotten a COVID-19 booster shot or will be subjected to frequent COVID testing, the report said.
Google will demand anyone coming to one of its offices or establishments in the United States to get a negative molecular test for COVID-19, CNBC reported, citing an internal memo provided to workers. Apple is now taking matters into its own hands after the recent Omicron surge, the company is now demanding workers to get a coronavirus vaccination booster or take an up-to-date test before entering office.
Once employees are eligible for the booster, they will have four weeks to do so, the company said. Another company that is Google has said on Friday it will be temporarily conducting weekly COVID-19 tests on employees entering its offices in the U.S. Meta said last week that employees who had been vaccinated against Covid could only enter the office when it finally opened.
“Due to the reduced efficacy of the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines and the emergence of high transmission options such as Omicron, booster injection is now part of timely COVID-19 vaccination to protect against disease. The extent of the spread of COVID-19 is still unknown, our plans can be flexible as the world continues to face challenges in dealing with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we are taking steps to ensure certain safety measures are in place for our customers and employees”.
Many companies in the United States have tightened their COVID-19 regulations by making vaccinations mandatory and postponing return-to-office plans as the Omicron variant increases infections across the country. Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, introduced COVID-19 vaccinations for all workers returning to their offices this week.
