Walmart said Friday it will require vaccinations for certain employees.- The rule applies to "home office associates" as well as other employees who "work in multiple facilities."
- The
vaccination deadline will be October 4, 2021.
Walmart will require certain employees to receive
The retailer's new rule will apply to employees based at the retailer's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, according to a company-wide memo. "Market, regional, and divisional" management-level employees who travel and "work in multiple facilities" will also need to get vaccinated, the memo said.
The deadline for getting vaccinated is October 4, 2021. According to the memo, Walmart will also "implement a new process for verification of vaccine status" for its workers.
The vaccination requirement does not apply to employees who work in stores, clubs, or warehouses, the memo said.
Walmart also $4 Friday that it would require store workers in areas with "high transmission" to mask up at work.
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Walmart is the first major retailer to require certain corporate employees get vaccinated, and among the first to reinstate mask requirements for some store workers.
Other retailers will likely follow suit, as $4 for stores to close on Thanksgiving and raise the minimum age to purchase firearms.
"We continue to watch with deep concern the developments of the pandemic and the spread of variants, especially the Delta variant," Walmart chief people officer Donna Morris said in an email to employees. "We know vaccinations are our solution to drive change. We are urging you to get vaccinated."
Walmart's new policies come as the Delta variant of COVID-19 spreads rapidly across the US. The current 7-day average of daily new cases increased by 64% compared to the previous 7-day average, according to data from the $4.
A $4 from the CDC found the variant is more transmissible than the common cold and seasonal flu, but did not lead to severe illness or death in vaccinated individuals. The University of California Davis Health found 97% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are $4 as of July 22.