BL Premium reports that Discovery has become the first JSE-listed company to announce mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for all staff. Its move is likely to fuel a debate about whether other companies should follow a growing international trend.
CEO Adrian Gore explained that the decision to require staff to be vaccinated as of 2022 was a moral imperative for a company that had lost about 14,000 clients and more than 20 staff members to Covid-19. The company announced the decision when it released its annual results for the year ended June 2021, saying the policy was a “clear moral and social obligation” informed by its core purpose to make people healthier. It said there was also a legal obligation to protect employees. Discovery had sought legal advice on whether to institute a mandatory vaccination policy, Gore indicated. He disclosed that about 49% of Discovery’s roughly 10,000 staff members, including contractors and temporary workers, had already been fully vaccinated. The low number was due to a large portion of the staff being in younger age groups that only recently became eligible for vaccination. While vaccine mandates have been controversial, proponents have cited clear scientific evidence that vaccines greatly reduce the risk of hospitalisation and death from Covid-19, while the unvaccinated have a greater chance of transmitting the virus.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Garth Theunissen and Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
- Lees ook, Discovery gaan inenting verplig; regering oorweeg inentingspaspoort, by Maroela Media
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