Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook staff won’t need vaccine to return to work

Social media boss dealt with the issue during call with more than 50,000 employees

Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook staff won’t need vaccine to return to work

(Getty Images)

Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook staff will not need to get the Covid vaccine to return to work.

The founder of the social media giant told his more than 50,000 employees during a company meeting that they will not be required to get the shots, according to the Daily Beast.

Most facebook employees have been working from home during the pandemic, which has killed more than 290,000 people in the US.

Mr Zuckerberg pointed out during the call that some Facebook employees have already returned to their offices in countries where Covid is more under control.

He also told staff he believed that vaccines were a positive development but warned them to remain socially distanced as they get rolled out, said insiders.

Mr Zuckerberg discussed vaccines and the need for the public to have confidence in it during a Facebook Live discussion with Dr Anthony Fauci last month.

"The challenge is going to be to convince people to get vaccinated," said the nation's top infectious disease doctor.

Facebook changed its policy to remove misinformation about Covid vaccines.

Its policy had been to remove false claims about the coronavirus if they could lead to “imminent physical harm.”

The company says it removed 12 million posts under that policy between March and October.

A new Gallup poll published this week shows that the willingness of Americans to get vaccinated is now up to 63 per cent.

The United Kingdom became the first nation to start giving people the authorised Pfizer vaccination and the US is expected to follow shortly.

Dr Fuaci has said that most people will be able to walk-in to a pharmacy and receive the vaccine by April and that everyone who wants it should have it by June.