20 August 2021

At Medline, not only do we have a responsibility to provide a safe workplace for our more than 300-strong workforce in Australia and New Zealand – many of whom live and work in Western Sydney – but we also have a responsibility to ensure we continue to safely supply Medline products to our customers who rely on us.

That’s why Medline Australia is mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for all employees across Australia by 1 December.

The decision to mandate vaccinations follows a number of Medline employees in Marsden Park who tested positive for COVID-19 in August, the first cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Following this, the affected area was deep cleaned and all staff within the contained section were sent home to self-isolate in accordance with NSW Health. After a very short period, Medline returned to being fully operational after working closely with NSW Health, and as of today all Medline sites remain open for deliveries as usual.

From Medline Australia Managing Director, Alex Thompson, “Given the location of our office, manufacturing and distribution facility in Marsden Park – in the heart of Sydney’s west – having positive COVID cases amongst our employees was always possible. First and foremost, we’re supporting our employees and wish them a speedy recovery. Thankfully, transmission was outside of our facilities and the many COVID safe protocols that we implemented some time ago are working – such as team segregation, regular COVID testing, and more.

But there’s only so much that safety measures can do – and that’s why our leadership team have together made this decision. We know there’s strong evidence in Australia and overseas, that the highest rates of infection have been in areas where vaccination rates are low. Furthermore, nearly all hospitalisations, ICU patients and deaths from COVID-19 are people who are unvaccinated.”

Medline thanks all healthcare workers for the role they play in keeping us safe.