Meta, Facebook’s mother, delays her return to the office and will require booster shots

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is delaying its return to US offices until March 28 and will require proof of Covid-19 booster vaccines for workers in those offices. The company already requires office workers to be vaccinated.

Janelle Gale, vice president of human resources at Meta, told CNN Business in a statement that the move is intended to give employees “more time to choose what works best for them.”

“We are focused on ensuring that our employees continue to have choices about where to work given the current COVID-19 landscape,” said Gale. “We understand that ongoing uncertainty makes this a difficult time to make decisions about where to work.”

Meta employees must now decide by March 14 how they would like to continue working – whether in the office, remote full-time, or temporarily at home for another 3-5 months.

With the decision, Meta becomes one of the first major US corporations to require proof of a booster dose from its office workers, not just vaccination, amid the rapid spread of the Ômicron variant.

She joins a growing list of state governments, colleges, universities and other employers across the country who are now demanding a boost to face-to-face work. Soon, the trend could continue more broadly as health officials debate changing the definition of “fully vaccinated” to three doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Last month, market research firm Gartner predicted that by mid-January, 15% to 20% of companies surveyed could have reinforcement requirements for their employees.