Morgan Stanley Makes COVID-19 Vaccination Mandatory for Staff, Clients

COVID-19 vaccinations will soon be mandatory for staff, clients, and anyone else entering Morgan Stanley's offices in New York City and suburban Westchester County, the company said.

The new policy means that the thousands of employees at the bank's Manhattan headquarters must certify they have been vaccinated to work alongside colleagues, starting July 12. Vaccination certification will also be required for bank clients and vendors, CBS Newsreported. Unvaccinated people will have to conduct business virtually.

Morgan Stanley can legally bar unvaccinated individuals from its offices to ensure a safe workplace as long as the firm accommodates individuals with either a disability or strong religious belief that prevents them from getting shots, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, all 35,000 San Francisco employees will have to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the city announced Wednesday. The new policy starts on Monday and requires employees to show proof of their vaccination status within 30 days, The New York Times reported. City officials said that employees who did not meet the vaccine requirement could lose their jobs but added that firings would be a last resort. A recent outbreak of the Delta variant, which first surfaced in India, among unvaccinated residents in nearby Marin County shows the need for everyone to receive the shots, officials said.

"We see that Delta did make its way through a cluster of unvaccinated people, and so we just wanted to make this move quickly," Carol Isen, the San Francisco director of human resources, told The Times. "We hope our employees respond to this in the spirit in which it's offered -- not as a punishment, but as a safety measure."