Meta Platforms demands staffers provide proof of COVID-19 booster vaccine before returning to office
- Reference: 1641915184
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/01/11/meta_platforms_demands_staffers_provide/
- Source link:
The mass inflow of staff was last pegged as 31 January, but the rapid spread of the Omicron variant forced Meta, along with [1]Google , [2]Amazon , and others to rethink their schedules.
"We're focused on making sure our employees continue to have choices about where they work given the current COVID-19 landscape," said Meta veep of HR Janelle Gale in a canned remark. "We understand that the continued uncertainty makes this a difficult time to make decisions about where to work, so we’re giving more time to choose what works best for them."
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Anyone at Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp who intends to keep working out of the office after the 28 March deadline set by corporate parent Meta will need make a request by mid-March to their boss.
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One thing the megacorp seems less flexible about is that its people going back into the office must be able to show evidence of a booster vaccination. There's plenty of bad science on Facebook, but presumably most staff recognise the importance of getting the shots themselves.
A spokesperson for Meta [6]told the Wall Street Journal : "Boosters provide increased protection." They added: “Given the evidence of booster effectiveness, we are expanding our vaccination requirements to include boosters."
[7]
In December, Google reportedly told employees they must provide proof of vaccination or successfully apply for exemption from their jabs. [8]Failure to do so could mean they'll be fired . Cisco has also [9]talked tough .
Pfizer CEO [10]Albert Bourla claimed yesterday the company is working to create a vaccination that tackles the Omnicrom variant from March. "We [are] already starting manufacturing some of these quantities at risk."
[11]Does the boss want those 2 hours of your free time back? A study says fighting through crowds to office each day hurts productivity
[12]East Londoners nicked under Computer Misuse Act after NHS vaccine passport app sprouted clump of fake entries
[13]Google joins others in Big Tech: Get vaccinated – or you're fired
[14]Cisco requires COVID-19 shots for all US staff – even remote workers
Meta's action aren't a surprise. Apple and Microsoft will both demand staff provide proof of vaccine before they return to the office.
Microsoft [15]said in August it'd need "proof of vaccination for all employees, vendors, and any guests entering Microsoft buildings in the US, and will have an accommodation process in place for employees."
Over in Cupertino, Apple said that all [16]unvaccinated employees would have to be tested for COVID-19 each time they want to come into the office, in a policy in place from November. That was until it [17]delayed the return to office indefinitely .
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In England, large venues and events – nightclubs, indoor unseated venues with more than 500 people, outdoor venues with more than 4,00 unseated customers and any place with more than 10,000 people – will require an NHS Covid Pass, a negative PCR or rapid lateral flow test, or proof of medical exemption, before entry is granted. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/06/google_omicron_lockdown/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/12/amazon_ceo_tells_corporate_workforce/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Yd23tmFb2nLjpzikZIcDGgAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yd23tmFb2nLjpzikZIcDGgAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Yd23tmFb2nLjpzikZIcDGgAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-owner-to-mandate-covid-19-vaccine-boosters-for-office-workers-delay-reopening-11641852001?AID=11557093&PID=6415797&SID=undefined%7C164189933620808syuk5x&subid=Business+Insider&cjevent=e0582fc972ce11ec820e02ce0a180514&tier_1=affiliate&tier_2=moa&tier_3=Business+Insider&tier_4=3861930&tier_5=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Ffacebook-owner-to-mandate-covid-19-vaccine-boosters-for-office-workers-delay-reopening-11641852001
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yd23tmFb2nLjpzikZIcDGgAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/15/google_vaccinations/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/03/cisco_updates_covid_19_vaccination_policy/
[10] https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/588988-pfizer-ceo-predicts-omicron-vaccine-will-be-ready-in-march
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/26/commute_work_psychologist_study/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/16/fake_nhs_vaccine_passport_arrests_met_police/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/15/google_vaccinations/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/03/cisco_updates_covid_19_vaccination_policy/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/04/microsoft_covid_work/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/21/unvaccinated_apple_staff/
[17] https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/15/tech/apple-tim-cook-office-return/index.html
[18] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Yd23tmFb2nLjpzikZIcDGgAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Good.
Yes, beware of that plague with a 99% survival rate where that rate decreases when there is already a co-morbidity which already reduces one's life expectancy.
Re: Good.
Omicron is filling up hospitals in the US to the point where the people who would really benefit from surgery are crowded out by the unvaccinated. You are welcome to not take omicron seriously in the privacy of your own home but if you start coughing, please stay there.
Re: Good.
biohazard containment suit
Umm, could I just ask - can you play tennis in those things?
Asking for a friend, obvs.
Re: Good.
I have, in general, little against vaccine requirements. However, limiting them to COVID-19 does seem arbitrary. There are other highly commuincable and dangerous diseases out there, such as influenza for which a similar requirement would make just as much medical sense. However, it probably makes even more sense to limit such requirements to employees where transmission at work is likely to lead to significant morbidity such as in hospitals and care homes.
You can have my medical records when you're my physician. Otherwise go pound sand. But what else would one expect from a corporation that already believes all your personal data belongs to it regardless not only of whether you've consented but even whether you've signed up for an account? It should surprise no one that they treat their employees with the same disregard as everyone else.
Although I would expect Meta to seek everyone's medical records via some underhand scheme the article says that they were demanding for proof of vaccination, not medical records from employees. If you have evidence Meta are demanding medical records you are welcome to post a link.
"Proof of vaccination" is a kind of medical record. It is specifically a record of a specific kind of medical procedure performed on the data subject. That's as much a medical record as it's possible for anything to be.
Given that US companies can fire employees for violating things like a no smoking policy at home, they shouldn't have any trouble enforcing this.
If the unvaxed are able to continue working from home it might result in a worse take-up.
Hmm
At least they are still letting them work remotely. The sub-heading says anti-vaxers but thats a pretty harsh conclusion when we are talking about a particular vaccine with very limited data, not yet completed all the trials and is in use under emergency powers/exemption in most countries. A vaccine which was advised against deploying to pregnant women until recently and also children.
To put people with concerns in the same camp as general anti-vax is a bit wrong. Hopefully not too wrong (serious long term side effects).
Re: Hmm
(serious long term side effects)
How about the serious long term side effects of not getting vaccinated, including
A greater chance of getting Covid
A greater chance of hospitalisation if you do
A greater chance of ending up in ITU if you do, then
A greater chance of death
And if you don't, a greater chance of Long Covid
I didn't like those possibilities so I have been vaccinated twice and boosted.
Good.
Get the jab or GTFO. Any exemption should come with a biohazard containment suit requirement at all times while on company property. You insist on being a plague carrier, we insist on isolating you to prevent anyone else from dying. Don't like it, tough shite.