United Airlines set to fire 593 employees for declining to take coronavirus vaccine

NEW YORK: Businesses in the US that have announced vaccine mandates say some workers who had been on the fence have since gotten inoculated against Covid-19. But many holdouts still remain. United Airlines Holdings said as many as 593 employees face termination after declining to get the coronavirus vaccine following the carrier’s deadline this week.

About 2,000 United workers have requested an exemption on medical or religious grounds, the company said on Tuesday, the day after the vaccine mandate deadline took effect for about 67,000 Us-based employees.

The airline plans to assess those requests by October 15, the same day employees granted exemptions will face being put on unpaid leave.

Ford Motor on Tuesday became the second Detroit automaker to ask US salaried employees to reveal their vaccination status by October 8 in a bid to comply with wider government guidelines. It said the process was voluntary for its hourly employees represented by the United Auto Workers union.

Slovenia suspends use of J&J vaccine after death

Slovenia suspended use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday while it is investigating the death of a 20-year-old woman, as thousands started gathering for an anti-vaccination protest in the EU nation.

The suspension will be in place until experts determine whether there was a link between the woman’s death from a stroke this week and the vaccine shot she received two weeks earlier, health minister Janez Poklukar said.

Youtube to pull all videos critical of approved jabs

Youtube will begin removing content questioning all approved vaccines, not just those for Covid-19. The division of Alphabet’s Google announced it will extend its policy against misinformation to cover all vaccines that health authorities consider effective.