Netflix has become the first major Hollywood studio to roll out companywide COVID-19 vaccine mandates for cast members and those who come in contact with them for all productions in the United States.
According to Deadline, the streaming platform announced that it would require vaccinations for everyone working in or coming in contact with those in "Zone A." Zone A, as it's understood, refers to actors and those near them.
Other production companies such Starz/UCP have required vaccinations for only some of their shows, such as "Gaslit," but Netflix is the first company to make it standard across the board.
Netflix's decision to mandate vaccinations for Zone A comes amid the fourth wave of COVID-19's Delta variant. A vaccine mandate is the most robust measure Netflix could enforce under SAG-AFTRA's new return-to-work guidelines. The guidelines express how new protocols agreed upon by Hollywood unions and significant studios would give producers "the option to implement mandatory vaccination policies for casts and crew in Zone A on a production-by-production basis."
In mid-April, White House press secretary Jen Psaki addressed concerns about whether the federal government would require vaccinations for the general public. Psaki dismissed the claim, according to the Washington Examiner, and added that the federal government would not get in the way of the private sector to mandate vaccinations.
"Obviously, private-sector businesses and entities are going to set their own standards," Psaki said in the press conference.
Although no known push has been made to require vaccinations for the public, President Joe Biden plans to announce Thursday that all federal workers will be required to either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo repeated, mandated tests.
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