Now that the United States Supreme Court has dealt a blow to the Biden Administration's COVID-19 mandate, Apple is taking things into its own hands. The makers of the iPad and the iPhone issued a directive to all Apple employees that they must either be thrice vaccinated or get tested for coronavirus regularly in order to come to work.
The standard for the Cupertino, California-based company is very similar to what the Biden Administration had rolled out for all larger companies in the United States. Its rules were being issued through the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and would force companies to not let employees back to work if they refused to get vaccinated or wouldn't show proof they had been tested for the coronavirus recently. A lawsuit was filed and SCOTUS temporally blocked the mandate, but that doesn't mean that individual companies can't set their own vaccination rules for their employees.
The Verge reported earlier this week that with a resurgence of COVID-19 around the country, Apple established strict guidelines. These include a provision saying that once an employee becomes eligible for the third "booster" shot, a worker has four weeks to get that jab. Should they refuse to get vaccinated or drag their heels on the timing, they will need to start taking frequent COVID-19 tests beginning on February 15.
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In an apparent attempt to stop the coronavirus pandemic from hampering its business, Apple has also said that unvaccinated employees, or those who haven't provided proof of vaccination, will need to start taking rapid antigen tests before they're allowed to enter their workplace. This will start on January 24. In the memo outlining these new directions, the company didn't make it entirely clear whether this policy applied to its retail stores, corporate headquarters, or both.
The iPhone maker's approach to the pandemic has been evolving as the infection rates wane and surge. Last year, Apple took measures in order to avoid COVID-19 shutdowns that have affected other companies and industries by making unvaccinated corporate employees take daily tests. Retail employees who weren't vaccinated had to test twice weekly.
Some of those policies were later dialed back when the pandemic seemed to be receding a bit, but now that it's surging around the world, Apple is apparently stepping things back up. Because of its retail stores, Apple can't go fully remote as some other companies have done, so it's moving to these new coronavirus requirements.
Source: The Verge