The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.Photo: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Walt Disney Company announced on Friday that all salaried and non-union hourly employees are required to be fully vaccinated.
The mandate gives on-site employees 60 days to be compliant.
Disney World.Disney
The company adds, “Employees who aren’t already vaccinated and are working on-site will have 60 days from today to complete their protocols and any employees still working from home will need to provide verification of vaccination prior to their return, with certain limited exceptions.”
For unionized workers, Disney states they “have also begun conversations around this topic with the unions representing our employees under collective bargaining agreements.”
“Vaccines are the best tool we all have to help control this global pandemic and protect our employees,” Walt Disney Company concludes in the statement.
Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.Dan Anderson /Getty
It’s unclear if the company is giving employees the option to take a COVID-19 weekly test as other organizations with similar mandates have allowed. Medical and religious exemptions for qualifying employees will be granted,according toNexstar journalist Scott Gustin.
Walt Disney Company reps had no additional information to provide to PEOPLE.
In addition to the Walt Disney Company,California State, New York City, Veteran Affairs, andbig tech companies such as Googlehave implemented similar policies amid growing concerns of thehighly contagious Delta variant.
The Delta variant is likelyas contagious as chickenpox and causes more severe illness than other strains of the virus, according to data found in an internal document from the Centers for Disease Control.
The findings back up CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky’s decision this week to recommend thatfully vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoorsin areas with high rates of COVID-19,she told CNNon Friday after verifying the legitimacy of the document.
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“I think people need to understand that we’re not crying wolf here. This is serious,” she said. “It’s one of the most transmissible viruses we know about. Measles, chickenpox, this — they’re all up there.” The CDC also announced this week fully vaccinated people with breakthrough cases may spread COVID-19 as easily as unvaccinated people.
As of Friday, 49.5% of Americans (163 million) have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 58% have received at least one dose.
As information about thecoronavirus pandemicrapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from theCDC,WHOandlocal public health departments.PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMeto raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, clickhere.
source: people.com
