While Apple is more than willing to enact mask mandates for its physical retail stores, both for employees and customers, it’s not quite ready to make the same effort with vaccinations against COVID-19. However, the company continues to urge employees to get vaccinated. And apparently the company is launching its biggest campaign to push that message.
That’s according to a new report today from Bloomberg, which says Apple has launched its biggest campaign to date to urge employees, especially those in the United States, to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The report says Apple has not only sent out an internal memo to employees saying as much, the company has also launched an internal website with information regarding the vaccine options, and is even hosting “internal talks” within the company for employees as well. Those talks are being hosted by Apple’s Kristina Raspe, vice president in charge of real estate; and Sumbul Desai, the company’s vice president of health efforts.
The report says that, according to the internal memo, Apple is urging any employees that have access to the vaccine, and who can take the vaccine, should do so as soon as possible. The memo was sent out to employees late on Thursday night.
From today’s report:
The company’s web page for employees discusses Covid-19’s delta variant and explains how a vaccine could help prevent its spread. The company also emphasized that the version made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE has received official approval from the FDA.
And the report goes further, saying Apple is using an established partnership with the Walgreens pharmacy chain to try and get employees vaccinated:
The company also is pushing vouchers to employees and their dependents to get vaccinated via a partnership with the Walgreens drugstore chain across the U.S. And it’s offering on-site vaccinations at Apple offices in Silicon Valley and Austin, Texas.
The one thing Apple is not yet ready to do, though, is launch a vaccine mandate for employees. Apple’s campaign to get people vaccinated is leaning into the Delta variant and its continued spread across the globe.
As mentioned earlier, Apple did relaunch a mask mandate for its physical retail stores. This means entry into a physical store requires the person wear a mask, and all employees must wear a mask as well. The company is going so far as to hand out masks to those who walk into the store not wearing one. In related news, Apple has delayed a return to in-person work due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and the company actually shut down one of its retail stores for several days in South Carolina due to a number of staff being exposed to COVID-19.