CNN Fires 3 Workers For Arriving Unvaccinated Against COVID-19
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – The Cable News Network (CNN) has fired three employees after they entered its New York headquarters without being vaccinated for COVID-19, according to a leaked memo.
CNN chief Jeff Zucker told the staff members in the memo that vaccines were mandatory if they report to the office or out in the field where they could come into contact with colleagues.
“Let me be clear — we have a zero-tolerance policy on this,” wrote Zucker, chairman of news and sports for WarnerMedia, which owns CNN.
The Associated Press news agency obtained the memo after CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy first tweeted its contents. CNN offered no details on the firings or where the employees were based.
The dismissals come amid mounting pressure on millions of unvaccinated Americans to get the coronavirus jab despite concerns among critics about their possible side effects.
Several firms and federal agencies have mandated that part or all of their workforce be vaccinated, including meatpacking giant Tyson Foods and social media platform Facebook.
U.S. President Joe Biden calls the rise of the “highly contagious” Delta variant in the United States a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
Back at Biden-friendly CNN, employees didn’t have to provide documentary proof of vaccination, but Zucker suggested that policy is now under review.
Most of CNN’s offices were already open voluntarily, and more than a third of news staff members have returned, Zucker said.
However, the September 7 target for a full reopening was pushed back to at least mid-October due to the Delta variant of the coronavirus, he wrote.
Several media companies have made similar decisions with the AP news agency telling staff that an expected September 13 return has also been delayed.
“I think it is fair to say that we are all feeling a mix of anticipation, anxiety, frustration, confusion, and exasperation … I get it,” CNN’s Zucker wrote. “Continue to take care of yourselves and each other. And I will share more updates just as soon as we have them.”
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