Disney is joining the scores of major companies requiring its employees to be fully vaccinated.
The Mouse House said it will require all salaried and non-union hourly workers in the US to be vaccinated. Additionally, all new employees must be fully vaccinated if they want to work at Disney.
“At The Walt Disney Company, the safety and well-being of our employees during the pandemic has been and continues to be a top priority,” Disney said over the weekend. “Toward that end, and based on the latest recommendations of scientists, health officials and our own medical professionals that the COVID-19 vaccine provides the best protection against severe infection, we are requiring that all salaried and non-union hourly employees in the U.S. working at any of our sites be fully vaccinated.”
Employees who have not gotten the jab but are working on site will have 60 days 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,” the company said.
The Burbank, California-based media giant added that it is in talks with unions representing our employees under collective bargaining agreements to get fully vaccinated.
“Vaccines are the best tool we all have to help control this global pandemic and protect our employees,” the company said.
Disney joins major companies like Netflix, Google, Facebook, Twitter and Uber to adopt some form of vaccine mandate as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread quickly across the country.
In response to surging Covid cases, Disney recently reinstated its mask mandates at Disneyland and Disney World. Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagThe new vaccine requirement comes as public officials in Orlando, Florida, the home of Disney World, declared the county in a local state of emergency last week, as the surge in Covid cases has overwhelmed the area.
Disney has been particularly concerned about the resurgence of cases as theme park tourism has only recently begun to show signs of a full recovery. On Friday, the Mouse House reinstated its mask mandate for guests and workers at both Disney World and Anaheim, Calif.-based Disneyland last Friday.
