Emirates tells staff to get vaccinated or pay for COVID-19 tests
Dubai’s Emirates airline has told its employees to take a free coronavirus vaccine or pay for tests to prove they are not infected with the deadly disease, cautioning that an unvaccinated workforce could create operational issues.
In an internal email, seen by Reuters, the airline told cabin crew that starting March 15, those not vaccinated must pay for a test valid for seven days to the start of flight or standby duty.
Those due for their second vaccine dose, have registered to take their initial dose, have a valid medical reason, or have been recently infected or are infected are exempt, it says.
The policy applies to all employees in the UAE, an Emirates spokeswoman told Reuters, declining further comment.
Emirates has offered the Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinopharm vaccines to its employees for free since January.
