Big stock exchange with Atlanta ties adds vaccine mandate

As the delta variant spreads, some U.S. employers are mandating vaccinations for workers who enter company buildings. That includes Walmart, Facebook, Google and Tyson Foods, as well as Georgia-based employers Emory Healthcare, Piedmont Healthcare, Invesco and Cox Enterprises, which has a variety of holdings, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Delta Air Lines has said it requires vaccinations of new employees.

The Wall Street Journal and CNBC reported that the NYSE sent out a notification that it will require full vaccinations of people on the exchange’s trading floor unless they are granted exemptions for medical or religious reasons. Those exempted would need a recent negative COVID-19 test to be on the floor.

The NYSE’s physical trading floor had been completely closed for about two months early in the pandemic. For years, much of the trading in the U.S. and globally has been shifting from physical trading floors to electronic platforms.

Intercontinental Exchange, a financial technology and data company, has particularly big bases of operations in New York, Georgia and India, according to a listing in a recent company filing.

The company’s chief executive officer, Jeffrey Sprecher, is married to former Georgia Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, who had been an executive at the business.