Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Facebook Inc. said on Wednesday
all US employees must get vaccinated to step into offices. Google is also
planning to expand its vaccination drive to other regions in the coming months.
Twitter, which on Wednesday also paused future office
reopenings, had started allowing employees back to its campuses in San
Francisco and New York at 50% capacity about a fortnight ago after more than 16
months.
US coronavirus cases have been rising due to the Delta
variant, which emerged in India but has quickly spread and now accounts for
more than 80% of cases stateside. On Tuesday, US health authorities said
Americans fully vaccinated against Covid-19 should go back to wearing masks in
indoor public places in regions where the coronavirus is spreading rapidly.
San Francisco-based ride-hailing company Lyft Inc., which
had already made vaccinations mandatory for employees returning to the office,
postponed its reopening to February from September. "We anticipate the
covid situation will remain fluid for the upcoming months, making it difficult
for us to land a clear return date without a possibility of moving it
again," Lyft CEO Logan Green said in a memo to staff.
According to a Deadline report, streaming giant Netflix Inc.
has also implemented a policy mandating vaccinations for the cast and crew on
all its US productions.
Apple Inc. plans to restore its mask requirement policy at
most of its US retail stores, both for customers and staff, even if they are
vaccinated, Bloomberg News reported.
Apple and Netflix did not immediately respond to requests
for comments.
Many tech companies including Microsoft Corp. and Uber
Technologies Inc. have said they expect employees to return to offices, months
after pandemic-induced lockdowns forced them to shift to working from home.
Google also said on Wednesday it would extend its
work-from-home policy through Oct. 18 due to a recent rise in cases caused by
the Delta variant across different regions.
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