Fox dropping COVID-19 testing option, requiring vaccinations for workers in New York

Fox Corporation is requiring all employees who work in its New York City headquarters offices to receive at least one coronavirus vaccination shot by Dec. 27, and is scrapping the option of regular testing for employees who wish not to be vaccinated. 

The new policy comes as the company looks to stay in compliance with New York City’s vaccine rule, which requires on-site workers at all businesses to be vaccinated, The New York Times reported. 

“Our policy reflects the guidelines of the mandate,” a spokesman for Fox told the Times. 

In August, Fox New Media announced that select employees in their New York offices would be required to undergo COVID-19 testing at least once each week, regardless of their vaccination status. A memo in June had suggested encouraging fully vaccinated staff to enter their vaccination status into Workday. 

A month later, Kevin Lord, senior vice president of Fox Corp. human resources, wrote in a memo to staff that a majority of full-time employees at Fox Corp. said they were fully vaccinated. 

“This is important information for our company to know as we continue to implement our phased return to office timing and procedures,” Lord said at the time.

Citing a rising number of coronavirus cases in recent weeks driven by new variants, a number of news outlets have scaled back the number of in-person employees or pushed back reopening dates until after the first of the year.