United Airlines Is Firing Nearly 600 Employees for Refusing to Get COVID Vaccine

United Airlines is letting go of hundreds of their employees.

The airline company will fire about 600 United States employees who refused to get the coronavirus vaccine, People reported Thursday (September 30).

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Employees were to be fired for not getting vaccinated by the September 27 deadline, the New York Times reported on Tuesday (September 28), while 67,000 employees, representing 99% of their staff, did get the vaccine.

“This was an incredibly difficult decision but keeping our team safe has always been our first priority,” United’s Scott Kirby and Brett Hart said in an internal memo.

A company spokesperson told People that the firings have already begun, but the employees can keep their jobs if they choose to get the shot before the official termination.

“We will work with folks if during that process they decide to get vaccinated,” the spokesperson said.

Employees may also claim religious or medical exemptions, an about 2,000 employees have sought those exemptions, The Wall Street Journal added. Workers exempt from the vaccine were to be put on unpaid leave starting this weekend, but the airline has since pushed that decision to October 15 because of a lawsuit filed by six employees.

A United spokesperson said the airline also plans to require new hires are vaccinated, and is planning to hire around 25,000 people in the next few years, via Reuters.

Find out which stars are openly refusing to get vaccinated.