Netflix productions implementing mandatory vaccinations
(Credit: Sayan Ghosh)

Netflix News

Netflix productions implementing mandatory vaccinations

Netflix is clamping down hard on Covid measures, ensuring all key cast and crew members on US TV and film productions have been vaccinated. 

Reports from the company suggest that they will require, “Zone A” personnel, including actors and crew in close proximity with that group, must get the jab. The new move has been implemented after standards were recently agreed upon between Hollywood unions and studios, to allow for mandatory vaccination policies. 

Actor Sean Penn has criticised the policy for not going far enough, however, wanting it to be extended to all members of production, not just those in “Zone A”. It comes after further comments from Penn that announced that he would not return to work on the NBC Universal drama, Gaslit, unless all cast and crew members have received the jab.

The move also comes after the US Disease Control and Prevention announced at the start of the week that masks will become mandatory to wear indoors once more, even by those who have been fully vaccinated. This change in policy has come after a sharp spike in Covid cases due to the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus. 

Many other companies are introducing similar measures, including Google and Harry Potter publisher, Bloomsbury, who have also announced that staff must have vaccinations before returning to work. “The simple fact is that this virus is still extremely dangerous,” the publishers stated. 

JP Morgan in the US stated in June that it would take such measures even further, instructing staff to log their vaccination status on an online web portal. Bankers at Goldman Sachs have also been instructed to disclose how many vaccinations they’ve had before returning to work.