In what's been described as an industry first, Netflix is requiring all actors on its US shows and movies to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to work – while the same applies to anyone working on its productions who comes into contact with actors on-set.
That's according to Deadline, which says Netflix will make a scant number of exceptions around medical, religious and age reasons. Other studios' productions have brought in similar rules to protect cast and crew, but Netflix is the first major studio to enforce it across every production in the US. This follows an agreement brokered with Hollywood unions last week that allows studios to put these protocols in place.
This comes amid rising cases of the Delta variant in the US. While rigorous testing, masks and social distancing have been used to keep filming as safe as possible, vaccination is seen as another key part of keeping that industry moving and stopping the spread of the virus.
Shutting down filming is expensive business for Hollywood. Outside the US, it was reported earlier this month that Netflix's Bridgerton had to temporarily halt filming in the UK due to a positive Covid test.
Even on-set safety protocols add some expense for these big productions, too. According to THR last September, Jurassic World: Dominion added around $3 million onto its budget just for tests to protect cast and crew.
Analysis: This goes beyond TV
It's not just Netflix implementing this rule in the tech space – Google will require its employees to be vaccinated in order to work at its campuses. This is rolling out to the US in the next few weeks, and will apply to other regions in future, too. Facebook is bringing in a similar rule.
This comes as President Joe Biden is considering a similar mandatory vaccination rule for federal workers in the US, according to CNN – that's expected to be announced on Thursday, July 29, which is today at the time of writing.
You can read the WHO's Covid-19 vaccines explainer here.
