Southwest says staff must be vaccinated against Covid by Dec. 8 under federal rules

Southwest said Monday that its 56,000-person workforce must be vaccinated against Covid-19 by Dec. 8 to continue working at the airline because of new federal rules, joining other carriers who made similar announcements last week. The Biden administration last month said staff of federal contractors must be vaccinated, unless they are granted a religious or medical exemption. Southwest and other major airlines are federal contractors since they fly government employees, cargo and provide other service, such as flights for Afghanistan evacuees in August. The new federal guidelines for government contractors are stricter than those in President Joe Biden’s plan to increase vaccinations among companies with more than 100 employees by requiring inoculations or regular Covid testing. “Southwest Airlines is a federal contractor and we have no viable choice but to comply with the US government mandate for Employees to be vaccinated, and — like other airlines — we’re taking steps to comply,” Gary Kelly, CEO of the Dallas-based airline, told staff on Monday.<br/>