Microsoft joins list of corporations requiring employees to be vaccinated

Microsoft is joining the list of corporations that are requiring their employees to be fully vaccinated before returning to the office. 

The company sent an email to employees Tuesday announcing the requirement, which also applies guests who come to the offices.

Employees will be going back to the office Oct. 4, with some employees who have children or a person in their household who is immunocompromised allowed to stay home until the beginning of next year.

There will be medical and religious exemptions for the vaccine requirement.

The announcement follows several other major companies such as Google and Walmart who announced a vaccine requirement for employees last week. 

Vaccine requirements are becoming popular among colleges and companies as the U.S. is fighting against another surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the delta variant. 

Vaccination rates have fallen during the summer with only 50 percent of the U.S. population fully vaccinated.

The rise in cases has caused some companies and areas to reimplement a mask mandate indoors for fully vaccinated individuals.