Facebook and Google: Just vaccinated in the office

For employees of Google and Facebook in the USA, a vaccination against the coronavirus will be mandatory in the future in order to be able to work in the office again. Something similar could soon also apply to the state’s federal employees.

The employees of the internet giants Google and Facebook in the USA have to get vaccinated against the coronavirus before returning to the offices. The companies communicated this independently of one another.

Google boss Sundar Pichai said the regulation would initially affect the US, but will also apply to other regions in the coming months as soon as vaccinations are available there.

As a result of the recent increase in new corona infections in the USA due to the Delta variant, Google is also postponing the planned larger return to the offices until October 18, as Pichai explained.

Facebook is reviewing procedures for locations outside of the United States

Apple, on the other hand, had already postponed the return to the offices last week by initially one month, now until October. However, the company has not yet announced any compulsory vaccination.

Facebook will also “require that everyone who visits one of our locations in the US is vaccinated,” said Vice President Lori Goler of the AFP news agency. The company plans to reopen its offices in September with a capacity of 50 percent.

There will also be a procedure for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons. The procedure with a view to locations outside the US would be examined further, it said.

Vaccination campaign stalled

According to the US federal agency EEOC, which is responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination laws in the workplace, employers can require their employees to prove they have been vaccinated against Covid-19. Exceptions are medical or religious reasons.

The vaccination campaign in the USA is now on the point – and that despite an abundance of vaccines and many vaccination incentives. Therefore, the states of New York and California as well as several cities have already announced compulsory vaccination for employees.

President Joe Biden is also apparently examining compulsory vaccinations for the country’s more than two million federal employees. However, Biden has clearly rejected the idea of ​​a nationwide vaccination requirement.

In the United States, around 49 percent of the population of around 330 million people are fully vaccinated to date. Most recently, the number of new daily corona infections rose again to around 60,000 on average because of the particularly contagious Delta variant.