The latest large entities to join this growing list of corporations are McDonald's and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). They're following in the footsteps of major companies like Walmart, Uber, Google and Facebook that had previously announced their own vaccine mandates. (Related: More companies forcing employees to take experimental COVID-19 vaccines now linked to over 12,000 deaths in the USA.)
New York Stock Exchange to only allow fully vaccinated traders in building
On Wednesday, Aug. 11, the NYSE announced it would require traders to be fully vaccinated to access the stock exchange's historic 16,000 square-foot trading floor.
NYSE Chief Operations Officer Michael Blaugrund said that all traders and other personnel who work on the trading floor must be fully vaccinated by Sept. 13. Exemptions will be granted for employees with medical or religious concerns to vaccinations.
But even if a trader or an NYSE employee qualifies for the exemptions, they have to abide by certain regulations before being allowed to enter the trading floor.
Firstly, the NYSE has imposed a mask mandate for all unvaccinated traders and employees. Second, they must present a negative COVID-19 test taken within 48 hours before their entry. This means they have to take a COVID-19 test at least three times a week.
Blaugrund said the NYSE will expand its on-site random COVID-19 testing. But this free testing service is only available for fully vaccinated traders and NYSE employees.
Unvaccinated traders and employees who qualify for exemptions have to source and pay for their own testing off-site.
McDonald's pushes back return to offices to give corporate employees time to get vaccinated
The McDonald's Corporation also announced its vaccine mandate on Wednesday.
The multinational fast-food chain told its U.S.-based corporate office workers to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 27 or risk being fired. Exemptions will be granted for people with medical or religious reasons to not get the vaccines.
McDonald's is also pushing back the reopening date of its offices from Sept. 7 to Oct. 11. This is to give its corporate workforce more time to get the dangerous vaccines and to build up their so-called immunity to the virus.
Executive Vice President and Global Chief People Officer Heidi Capozzi wrote in an internal memo that the company enacted its vaccine mandate because of requests from its own workforce.
"Since the Town Hall, we've heard from many of you that you would feel more comfortable returning to the office if you had more certainty your colleagues were vaccinated," she wrote.
"We are also being asked by state and local governments to require vaccinations for corporate employees because getting more of the population vaccinated reduces our own chances of being infected and contributes to community protection," she added. Capozzi wrongfully believes that the COVID-19 vaccines offer protection and do not contribute to the spread of the virus.
McDonald's vaccine mandate does not apply to restaurant-level workers, whether the store is corporate-owned or franchised. Many franchise owners have been struggling to find enough workers who are willing to staff their locations. These employers believe instituting vaccine mandates could alienate many potential applicants or cause some existing employees to quit.
The corporate offices currently require face masks to be worn at all times, regardless of an employee's vaccination status. That said Capozzi stated that, once everybody is fully vaccinated, wearing masks may become optional in the future.
Learn more about the private sector's push to mandate the COVID-19 vaccines by reading the latest articles at Vaccines.news.
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