IBM employees will have to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19

IBM has informed its employees in the United States that they will have to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by December 8, 2021 or that they will be given unpaid leave from work. The business news broadcaster CNBC reports, citing a message from the company to the employees. The IT company announced that one had to adhere to the vaccination order from US President Joe Biden for state contractors. "As a government contractor, it is imperative for IBM to do so." The vaccination guideline can almost be equated with a termination for unvaccinated people. However, an IBM spokesperson told CNBC that the company would consider religious and medical exemptions for employees. There is a similar regulation with the US airline United Airlines. The company, with a total of 67,000 employees, announced at the beginning of August that it expected all employees in Germany to be vaccinated and that the employees would have to prove this. United said those who have not yet been vaccinated will be fired. Just under two weeks ago, 99.5 percent of employees were vaccinated against the corona virus. As with IBM, there are exceptions for health or religious reasons, as United announced. Apparently, many employees there decided in favor of the corona vaccination in view of the threat of dismissal. The company announced that fewer employees will be laid off than previously announced - the number will drop from 593 to 320. In the meantime, other US airlines have followed suit. These include American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Jet Blue.