Supermarket defends its vaccination decision
Supermarket giant Coles has denied it has backflipped on making vaccination mandatory for staff at its stores after reports emerged in some media outlets, suggesting a policy shift.
The statement says the claims are completely incorrect and confirmed that the measures it announced publicly on 21 October had not changed in any way.
The statement explained that:
- Coles requires team members to be vaccinated as a condition of working at any of our stores, distribution centres and other sites in New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria, unless they have a valid exemption
- Coles team members in NSW and the ACT must have received at least one vaccination by 5 November and have received a second dose by 17 December
- In Victoria, NT and WA, team members are required to be vaccinated in line with the dates set out in public health orders
- In each state where Coles team members are required to vaccinate as a condition of work, either as a result of government health orders or as part of Coles' updated COVID safety measures, Coles intends to maintain this requirement as an ongoing policy
- Coles will continue to work with health authorities and team members to strongly encourage the uptake of vaccination in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania. We will continue to review our policies on team member vaccination on a state-by-state basis, in line with changes in the risk of transmission.
Are you satisfied with the worker vaccination policy at Coles in your state? Would you change where you shopped based on a supermarket's vaccination policies?
We are experiencing a pandemic that nobody has experienced for over 100 years and, it's fair to say, none of us has any idea how to navigate a pandemic. Vaccination has shown that fewer people will get the virus and those who do will experience symptoms much less severe than those who are unvaccinated. For Coles, or any other retailer, to insist that those employees dealing with the public be vaccinated to reduce the chance to pass on the virus must be applauded. For those who choose not to be vaccinated, choices have consequences and if that means that loss of employment is a consequence then so be it. The courts have already ruled that employers can insist on their employees being vaccinated or lose their jobs so it's no longer an infringement on human rights issue.