Citigroup to require workers returning to the office to be vaccinated

Investment banking company Citigroup is requiring its workers to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus before returning to the office amid the spread of the highly infectious delta variant in the U.S. 

A memo sent out to employees Tuesday states the decision effects offices in major American cities including Boston; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Chicago and New York City, Bloomberg News reported.

Sarah Wechter, head of human resources for the company, also posted the new guidelines on her LinkedIn.

The company’s bank branches will not have the same requirement and will only encourage vaccinations.

Employees will have to begin going into the offices at least twice a week starting Sept. 13, according to the memo.

Regardless of vaccination status, all employees will be required to wear masks, a mandate that follows a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendation for fully vaccinated individuals to wear masks in areas where there is a high transmission rate of the disease. 

Citigroup is one of few banks thus far to implement a vaccine requirement, as other companies have only encouraged employees to get fully vaccinated. 

The state of Massachusetts announced last week that it would require all nursing home staff to get the coronavirus vaccine. The states of Maryland and Virginia will also require that state employees be vaccinated against the virus. 

In addition, companies such as Google, Walmart and United Airlines have instituted forms of vaccination mandates for their workers.  

Updated at 2:07 p.m.