SAN FRANCISCO — On Friday, March 26, social media company Facebook announced that some of its workers will be returning to its Bay Area offices, which will reopen this May.
First reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, Facebook said it will reopen at a 10 percent capacity. The company’s headquarters, located in Menlo Park, will reopen on May 10, Fremont offices on May 17, Sunnyvale on May 24, and two SF offices in June.
Business Insider first reported in August 2020 that Facebook will let employees work from home until July 2021.
The news comes more than two weeks after Facebook, co-founded in 2004 by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, announced that it partnered with Boston Children’s Hospital to help people get registered for the vaccine as well as finding where and when they can get vaccinated.
Facebook said it “connected over 2 billion people to authoritative COVID-19 information” and want to “help bring 50 million people one step closer to getting vaccinated,” in a March 15 news release.
The social media company also said it is “expanding our COVID-19 Information Center to Instagram” and “expanding official WhatsApp chatbots on COVID-19 to get people registered for vaccinations with health authorities and governments” as well as labeling “posts about COVID-19 vaccines to show additional information from the WHO [World Health Organization].”
In addition, Facebook revealed a new feature on Thursday, April 1 that allow users to add “I got my COVID-19 vaccine” on their profiles in either English or Spanish.
Facebook said vaccinations are not mandatory for its employees, with a spokeswoman telling the SF Chronicle that it has “a number of protocols in place that include testing, physical distancing, wearing masks and other best practices” and will “work with experts to ensure our return-to-office plans prioritize everyone’s health and safety.”
Facebook reopening its Bay Area offices comes after Universal Studios Hollywood said it will reopen to CA residents on April 16. Disneyland Resort and Disney California Adventure will reopen on April 30 to CA residents as well.
SF Mayor London Breed said beginning on April 1, “people 50 and older are eligible to receive the vaccine” and in two weeks, it will be available “to everyone 16 and over,” she tweeted. “If supply keeps up as projected, 80% of San Francisco adults will receive their first shot by mid-May,” she noted.
As of March 25, 2021, “over 40% of San Franciscans have now received at least a first dose of a vaccine,” the Mayor tweeted.
On April 1, CA Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted that the state has “administered over 18 million vaccines.”
