Ongoing investment in the national vaccination programme with the intention to mandate vaccines for all Discovery employees in SA

Given that global and local data strongly support the safety and efficacy of vaccination, Discovery continues to take a leadership role in driving up national vaccination rates, through its employees, products, and working closely with the National Department of Health on the country’s vaccination roll out.

“In our support of the national vaccination programme, Discovery has established nine vaccination sites nationally, requiring approximately 1 000 employees, investing R42 million in the year under review, and an anticipated spend of R200 million in the 2022 financial year.”

Gore continues, “Discovery intends to implement a mandatory vaccination policy effective 1 January 2022, given the clear moral and social obligation as informed by our core purpose to make people healthier and to enhance and protect all employees’ lives; and by our values, particularly, acting as a force for social good; and supported by a legal obligation to protect and safeguard our people from all potential risks.”

Gore added that the mandatory vaccination policy recognises employees’ right to object to the vaccination and has built in a process to manage this including, where necessary and possible, exemptions and reasonable accommodation of employees taking into account the operational and business requirements of Discovery. This process will consider the employee’s health, religious and other legal rights and seek to balance these with the rights of all employees across the Group.

“We will do our very best to accommodate each employee as we recognise that each case is different. We will not follow a blanket approach but will instead use a fair and equitable process that balances the employees’ rights, the safety of our workplaces and operational requirements,” Gore says.

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