Bloomberg reports that Apple is pushing employees in the United States to get immunized now that the Food and Drug Administration officially approves the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination.
Apple has created an internal website, sent out an employee memo and is holding internal discussions as part of its vaccine campaign.
The memo was sent to employees Thursday evening and stated that Apple is asking for everyone who can access the vaccine to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Sumbul Desai (Apple's vice president for health efforts) and Kristina Raspe (Vice president in charge real estate), are hosting talks to encourage employees who have not yet gotten their shots to do so.
Apple created a webpage explaining the delta variant and how it can be prevented. Apple also offers vouchers to employees for vaccinations through Walgreens. It is also providing vaccinations on-site in San Francisco Bay Area, Austin, Texas. Apple employees get paid time off to schedule vaccine appointments, and sick leave paid for side effects.
Apple does not require that employees be vaccinated. This is in contrast to other tech companies. While both Facebook and Google require employees to get vaccinated for their safety, Bloomberg reports that Apple has not done this to protect employee privacy.
Apple introduced frequent testing earlier this month for retail and corporate employees. They asked them to take COVID-19 test up to three times per semaine.
Apple originally planned for employees to return to work three days per week in September. However, as more cases are being filed, corporate employees will now be able work remotely until January 2022.
