Australian airline Qantas announced Wednesday that it will make it a strict requirement for all of its 22,000 personnel to be fully immunized against COVID-19.
Frontline workers, including pilots, cabin crew, and airport employees, will be mandated to be fully inoculated by November 15 and the remaining workers by March 31 next year.
Qantas, Australia's national carrier, is among the first major companies in the country to make it compulsory for workers to be fully vaccinated. The airline said the policy would also apply to its low-cost carrier, Jetstar.
Qantas said exemptions will be made for staff who are unable to get the vaccine for medical reasons but pointed out that it expected it to be "rare".
The Australian airliner is the country's largest, most high-profile company to launch a mandatory vaccine policy. The move comes as the state of New South Wales registered its biggest daily increase in COVID-19 cases.
According to Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce, having a workforce that is fully inoculated against the virus will safeguard the people against COVID-19, but also "protect our customers and the communities we fly to."
Qantas said a staff survey found nearly 90% were willing to be immunized or already had been, while 4% were not willing or unable.
The latest outbreak in Sydney has made the pandemic a real problem for Australia -- easing some hesitancy on getting the shot -- but there are still many who refuse to be vaccinated.
Joyce said vaccinations are the only solution to end lockdowns and border closures and that means airline employees can get back to work again.
Joyce said no decision has been made with regards to requiring local passengers to be immunized. The chief executive has previously announced vaccine passports will be compulsory for passengers when the airline resumes its international flights.
He added that as vaccines have become available, Qantas has "strongly encouraged" all its employees to be vaccinated and even offered paid time off to get it done.
Qantas, which has thousands of staff furloughed because of the global health crisis, has been actively advocating for the use of vaccines as the airline attempts to revive its operations.
