CNN Fires 3 Unvaccinated Employees for Coming Into the Office

Three CNN staffers were fired over the past week for coming to the office unvaccinated against COVID-19, according to an internal staff memo from network president Jeff Zucker reviewed by TheWrap.

“Thus far, we have left proof of vaccination to an honor system,” he wrote. “While we have asked for attestation to your status via Passcard, it has not been mandatory to produce a vaccine card. In the past week, we have been made aware of three employees who were coming to the office unvaccinated. All three have been terminated.”

Zucker went on, “Let me be clear — we have a zero-tolerance policy on this. You need to be vaccinated to come to the office. And you need to be vaccinated to work in the field, with other employees, regardless of whether you enter an office or not. Period. We expect that in the weeks ahead, showing proof of vaccination may become a formal part of the WarnerMedia Passcard process. Regardless, our expectations remain in place.”

While CNN has not made it mandatory to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to access offices, other outlets, like the Washington Post and New York Times, have.

CNN’s TV coverage has matched the internal pro-vaccine messaging the company displayed on Thursday. Anchors routinely encourage viewers to get vaccinated and disparage outlets and networks they feel are not urging inoculation enough.