MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazilian airline Gol will require employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19

“Awareness and understanding of the importance of vaccination is fundamental for the restoration of collective well-being,” Gol's Kakinoff said

Brazilian carrier Gol Linhas Aéreas Thursday announced that starting in November, it will require all its employees to have taken a full COVID-19 vaccine treatment.

The airline also pointed out in a statement that 80% of its staff has already taken at least one dose of immunizer.

“The creation of this new security requirement at Gol is a reinforcement and improvement of the other protocols established by the company since the beginning of the pandemic, which is rigorous, reliable, certified and proven to be effective”, said Gol President Paulo Kakinoff.

“Awareness and understanding of the importance of vaccination are fundamental for the restoration of collective well-being,” he added.

According to the company, exceptional cases which make vaccination impossible will be assessed individually.

Gol has also been reported in July 2021 to be Latin America's carrier with the most flights on time, with a 93.42% effectiveness. Other Brazilian companies such as Azul and Volaris have shown improvements while the rest of the operators have decreased their sharpness, according to a report released by Cirium, a global company specializing in aviation data.

Other airlines have taken similar measures regarding COVID-19: Delta, the third-largest in the United States, has already announced that it will add a monthly surcharge of US $ 200 to employees who receive the company's health care program and have not been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Hawaiian Airlines has made headlines twice over the past few days. First for being the carrier with the best punctuality record according to the Cirium survey and second because it joined the list of companies demanding US-based employees to be fully vaccinated, just like United Airlines has mandated recently.