Walmart orders staff vaccination  as variant spreads

Walmart Inc., the largest private employer in the United States, will require regional and headquarters staff to be vaccinated by October 4, joining Alphabet Inc.’s Google in implementing a policy that others large companies will soon follow. as the delta variant continues to spread.

The order covers all facility personnel, as well as market, regional and divisional employees working at multiple facilities, Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon said in a memo on Friday. A Walmart spokesperson could not immediately specify how many people the move affects.

The policy also includes all new hires. Walmart told its first-line store and warehouse associates to go back to wearing a mask on Friday, and doubling the cash incentive it offers employees to get vaccinated to $150.

“The pandemic is not over and the delta variant has caused an increase in contagion rates in much of the United States,” McMillon noted in the memo.

“We have made the decision to require that all associates in campus offices and all associates in markets, regions and divisions who work in multiple facilities be vaccinated by October 4, unless they have an approved exception.”

Walmart’s new policy sets a standard that other retailers and large companies could follow soon, as infections of Covid-19 variants increase across the United States.

Google will also require workers who return to their offices to be vaccinated but pushed back the date of return to campus until October 18.

Apple Inc. also delayed its return to the office until October and began urging store workers to wear masks again.