Nike lifted its COVID-19 vaccine requirement for most employees in the U.S. and Canada on Wednesday, citing public health guidance that finds the disease can spread even among vaccinated people.
“As the virus has evolved, so has the medical guidance,” Joe Marsico, Nike’s chief security officer, wrote in an email to employees Wednesday. He said vaccines were “critical in preventing community spread” when Nike adopted its vaccine mandate at the beginning of the year. “At this stage in the pandemic, the CDC and other public health authorities have acknowledged that community spread is possible even when people are fully vaccinated,” Marsico wrote.
He noted that vaccines are still highly effective at reducing illness and death and said Nike “strongly” encourages vaccinations, including the new bivalent booster that targets the omicron variant. Nike will continue giving people time off for vaccinations and boosters and offers sick leave to employees with COVID-19. The vaccine requirement remains in place at Nike workplaces in New York City, which has a citywide vaccine mandate in place until Nov. 1.