COVID-19

Silicon Valley Tech Companies Tighten Their Rules on COVID-19 Vaccinations

NBC Universal, Inc.

Tech companies large and small are tightening their rules on vaccinations.

Google became one of the first tech giants to throw down the gauntlet Wednesday, but already other Bay Area companies are starting to follow suit, telling employees that if they want to come back to the office, they must be vaccinated. 

CEO Sundar Pichai sent out a memo that reads, in part, "Anyone coming to work on our campuses will need to be vaccinated."

"I think you'll see many employees following suit," said UCSF Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Monica Gandhi. "We are heading back indoors with the fall and winter coming, and those are higher risk settings, and a bunch of vaccinated people together is a low-risk setting."

In fact, Facebook followed suit shortly after, as did Foster City cyber security company Exabeam.

"What we think the most appropriate thing to do is prioritize health for our employees," said CEO Michael Decesare, citing health concerns both for coworkers, and clients.

"For those who want to be part of it, they have to provide proof of vaccination,” he said. “So we know the population we're putting into an environment with each other is all in the exact same situation."

A situation lots of companies say they're concerned about.

Twitter announced Wednesday that it will close its San Francisco and New York offices immediately as COVID-19 cases surge across the country.

This comes just two weeks after the social media company reopened their offices to workers.

"After careful consideration of the CDC's updated guidelines, and in light of current conditions, Twitter has made the decision to close our opened offices in New York and San Francisco as well as pause future office reopenings, effective immediately," a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.

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