Starbucks will require all of its US workers get vaccinated against COVID-19 or test weekly.- Staff in cafes, plants, distribution centers, and offices must reveal vaccination status by Jan. 10.
Starbucks will require all of its US workers get vaccinated against COVID-19 or test weekly for the virus.
"The vaccine is the best option we have, by far, when it comes to staying safe and slowing the spread of Covid-19," Starbucks North America President John Culver said in a memo reviewed by Insider to employees on December 27.
Staff in cafes, plants, distribution centers, and offices all must reveal their vaccination status by January 10, and the new mandate will begin on February 9, the memo said.
Employees who choose to not get vaccinated against COVID-19 will have to take an Occupational Safety and Health Administration-approved test and submit a negative result before showing up to work each week, according to the memo.
"Fully vaccinated means both shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the single-shot J&J vaccine," the memo said, with no mention of a booster shot.
The new mandate will impact an estimated 220,000 to 230,000 workers, a Starbucks spokesperson confirmed to Insider.
The coffee company's new rules come after the Biden Administration in November announced that federal government employees or those working for large companies must be vaccinated or submit to regular testing at the start of 2022.
Since the announcement from the White House, there has been a slew of lawsuits filed against the administration from states that opposed the mandates.
The country is averaging over 280,000 COVID-19 cases a day, according to CDC data from last week, as it faces a surge in cases led by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.