Apple is cracking down on COVID vaccinations for retail and corporate employees.
Once eligible for the booster shot, workers must get the jab within four weeks, or, starting Feb. 15, take frequent tests to enter an office or shop, The Verge reported.
As of Monday, Jan. 24, unvaccinated employees—or those who haven’t submitted proof of inoculation—must provide negative COVID-19 rapid antigen tests before entering the workplace. It’s unclear, based on an internal email seen by The Verge, whether that applies to both corporate and retail staff.
“Due to waning efficacy of the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines and the emergence of highly transmissible variants such as Omicron, a booster shot is now part of staying up to date with your COVID-19 vaccination to protect against severe disease,” the Apple memo said.
While Apple stopped short of mandating immunization, it has previously required unvaccinated staff to take regular COVID tests before entering their workplace—daily for corporate personnel and twice a week for retail teams. Fully jabbed employees will be tested “infrequently,” but this memo suggests those tests are now going to be required every time an unvaccinated employee comes to work.
Apple last month temporarily shuttered a handful of North American stores following outbreaks of the virus among staff. But while most retail workers continue to don their blue-shirt uniforms, corporate employees are still wearing pajama bottoms to meetings. Bloomberg in December reported another delay of Apple’s hybrid work pilot—from Feb. 1, 2022, to a “date yet to be determined,” according to CEO Tim Cook.
Visit covidtests.gov to order up to four free rapid antigen tests, shipped directly to your door via USPS. And find out more about COVID-19 exposure alerts and at-home testing from PCMag.
