Qantas says all staff must be vaccinated as Sydney endures its eighth week of lockdown

Amid rising case numbers owing to the Delta variant in Australia, Qantas have said that all of its employees must be vaccinated against Covid-19.

The airline giant is the latest in a long line of firms to implement mandatory vaccinations for its staff.

Frontline workers including pilots, cabin crew and airport staff must be fully vaccinated by mid-November.

Any remaining staff have until the end of next March to have received both doses.

The news come amidst New South Wales recording its highest ever daily rise in Covid-19 case numbers.

Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, announced this week that the area of metropolitan Melbourne was having a curfew imposed.

Qantas is Australia’s most high-profile company to impose mandatory vaccination for its employees.

“We provide an essential service, so this will help guard against the disruptions that can be caused by just one positive COVID-case shutting down a freight facility or airport terminal,” Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said in a statement.

“It’s clear that vaccinations are the only way to end the cycle of lockdowns and border closures and for a lot of Qantas and Jetstar employees that means getting back to work again,” he added.

Qantas said 89 per cent of its 22,000 employees that it polled had already been vaccinated or were planning to be. Three quarters thought it should be mandatory.

The airline said that any staff member with a medical reason for not getting vaccinated would be granted an exemption.