Google to drop COVID vaccine rule to enter company buildings
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In another sign of businesses shifting their operations back to pre-COVID-19 practices, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has said it will no longer require people to be vaccinated against Covid if they want to enter company office buildings.
Chris Rackow, Google's (GOOG) vice president of global security, said the company would drop its Covid vaccine requirement in an email sent to employees on Tuesday, and that "vaccines will no longer be required as a condition of entry to any of our buildings." CNBC reported that it saw a copy of Rackow's email outlining Google's new vaccine policy.
The move comes almost 18 months after Google (GOOG) told its employees that they could lose their jobs if they didn't comply with mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations. The company began to ease up on making vaccinations a condition of employment earlier this year, but still forced employees to show proof of being vaccinated if they wanted to enter any company facilities.
According to CNBC, Rackow explained that Google (GOOG) was changing its vaccination policies because "most people today have some level of immunity against COVID-19, case rates and hospitalizations have stabilized for many months now, and governments all over the world, including the U.S., are ending emergency declarations, lifting restrictions and ending vaccination mandates."
Google's (GOOG) dropping of its vaccine mandate came the same day as President Biden signed legislation to official end the three-year-long COVID national emergency.