BusinessLive reports that Arena Holdings, publisher of titles such as Business Day and the Sunday Times, indicated in a memo to staff on Monday that it would be making Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for all its employees and contractors.

The policy, which will be effective from the beginning of March, will require staff without a vaccination certificate to show negative PCR tests, undertaken at their own cost, weekly. Arena, which employs about 850 people, joins a host of companies that have taken a firm stance on inoculations. “In terms of its health and safety obligations, the company must endeavour to eliminate, or, if that is not possible, minimise, as far as reasonably practicable, the risk of exposure to infection from Covid-19 in the workplace,” Arena explained. Health and life insurer Discovery in 2021 became the first listed company in SA to institute a mandatory vaccination policy, a move that it later credited with boosting take-up among staff from barely a fifth to 94% in a period of three months. It was followed by a host of companies, including hospital groups Mediclinic and Life Healthcare, as well as insurers Sanlam and Old Mutual.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by BusinessLive

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