Apple Asks All U.S. Employees to Share Vaccination Status, Still No Mandate

Apple this week began asking all of its employees in the United States to provide details on their vaccination status, reports Bloomberg.

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Employees have been asked to voluntarily share whether they have been vaccinated by mid-September, and this applies to both employees working in an office and those working remotely. In a memo, Apple said that its focus is keeping "team members, their friends and families, and our entire community healthy," but also mentioned creating a safe work environment.

"It is possible your vaccination status may be used in an identifiable manner, along with other information about your general work environment such as your building location, if we determine or, if it is required that, this information is necessary in order to ensure a healthy and safe work environment."

Apple plans to use the responses to inform COVID-19 response efforts and protocols, and according to Bloomberg, the company had already asked for data from employees in California, Washington, and New Jersey in order to comply with local regulations. Vaccine data is being kept confidential with information aggregated and not shared with managers, but that could change in the future.

Tech companies like Google and Facebook have mandated vaccines for their employees, but Apple has not done so. Last week, after the Pfizer vaccine received FDA approval, Apple began pushing its employees to get vaccinated.

Apple has launched an internal web page to encourage vaccines, in addition to sending out memos and holding internal talks as part of a vaccination campaign. Apple is offering vouchers to get employees vaccinated through Walgreens, and it is offering on-site vaccinations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Austin. Paid time off is available for vaccine appointments, as is paid sick leave for those who experience side effects.

These requests come as Apple is trying to determine when employees will be able to return to in-person work. Apple originally planned to have employees come into the office three days a week starting in September, but due to the delta variant, that has been pushed back until at least January 2022.

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Top Rated Comments

Derekuda Avatar
30 months ago

If you haven't gotten a vaccination shot at this point, you should be fired from your job. The overhead of having to deal with unvaccinated workers is just too high for a business to operate.
Should we also fire everyone who smokes cigarettes because second hand smoke has been proven to be worse for nearby people, not to mention raising insurance rates for these poor multibillion dollar companies. Perhaps every woman should also share their pap-smear status annually so those insurance rates don't affect everyone (including mens rates even though it doesn't apply to them).
How about you move to china so they can tell you how to live your life and you let americans be americans with their freedoms of choice.
Score: 52 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Analog Kid Avatar
30 months ago

I believe in the vaccine too, but just for comparison... what's the death rate of Covid compared to getting in or being around a vehicle. Once you find out, you'll realized we should also ban all forms of motorized transportation.
135 ('https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHSI/CDPH%20Document%20Library/ICS_SANTA%20CLARA2019.pdf?TSPD_101_R0=087ed344cfab200076a4ce20014972fc711e46cc7278b511ceddedf973dbe4d1fabae2fe2b50a40a0881206acb143000c66ddea3ff76216500741a50e056da9560afc96a777e3c6aac6dccfcc87cb4eabb091a5d80773c6e71c2396339c01685') motor vehicle deaths per year on average in Santa Clara county.
1700 ('https://covid19.sccgov.org/dashboard-cases-and-deaths') Covid deaths in Santa Clara county in a year and a half.

It's not hard to find information and get clarity on stuff like this.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheAustrianGuy Avatar
30 months ago
How come vaccinated people seem to be incredibly afraid of unvaccinated people?
I got my 2 Pfizer shots and couldn‘t care less about other people‘s vaccination status.
Score: 40 Votes (Like | Disagree)
caliguy Avatar
30 months ago

Absolutely, or at the least be forced to work from home. If you have no interest in protecting yourself and others then enjoy working in your house from now on because I don’t want people like that near me at work.
You can spread COVID just as easily with the vaccine, per the CDC ('//www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKFWGvvlVLI&t=56s').
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Labeno Avatar
30 months ago

If you haven't gotten a vaccination shot at this point, you should be fired from your job. The overhead of having to deal with unvaccinated workers is just too high for a business to operate.
I believe in the vaccine too, but just for comparison... what's the death rate of Covid compared to getting in or being around a vehicle. Once you find out, you'll realized we should also ban all forms of motorized transportation.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
McKodiak Avatar
30 months ago

Should we also fire everyone who smokes cigarettes because second hand smoke has been proven to be worse for nearby people, not to mention raising insurance rates for these poor multibillion dollar companies. Perhaps every woman should also share their pap-smear status annually so those insurance rates don't affect everyone (including mens rates even though it doesn't apply to them).
How about you move to china so they can tell you how to live your life and you let americans be americans with their freedoms of choice.
The majority of second hand smoke has been mitigated. You are no longer allowed to smoke in most public places inside or outside. We can ban people smoking but we can't ban people breathing, so we have to ban their admittance to ensure they don't spread their virus
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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