Its decision – following that of airlinesQantas and Virgin,food manufacturerSPC and even theMuseum of Old and New Art in Tasmania – shows mandatory vaccination is gaining more acceptance from corporate giants across industries.
Some state governments have mandated jabs for sectors such as healthcare but Prime Minister Scott Morrison has made clear that most firms will have to make their own decisions on whether to require vaccinations against COVID-19.
Telstra’s staff would be required to have their first vaccination by October 15 and their second by November 15,with “flexibility” if there are supply issues. More than 7200 Telstra staff already report being vaccinated.
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“At this stage,we are not proposing to make getting vaccinated a requirement for people who can work from home,” Telstra chief executive Andy Penn said in an email to staff on Monday. “But this is something we may consider down the track,particularly once more of us start to head back into the office and meet up in person.”
Mr Penn said he understood some people would choose not to get vaccinated but “given what’s at stake when it comes to protecting people’s health we would only consider exceptions on established medical grounds”,noting the company wanted to be “on the right side of history”. Telstra would seek to redeploy staff with a genuine medical exemption,he said,but cautioned staff could face medical retirement if another role could not be found.
Mr Penn gave examples of a technician flying to the Tiwi Islands or entering a nursing home to fix IT equipment as situations where vaccines would be especially important.