(Bloomberg) -- Westpac Banking Corp. moved to mandate vaccines for all staff working at its offices and branches, becoming the first of the big banks to require the jab for its employees across Australia.

The country’s second-largest bank on Thursday said it expects all employees entering a workplace in the eastern states of New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 1, while staff in other parts of the nation have until Feb. 22.

“It is clear that the best way to keep our people safe and stay open for our customers is for people to be vaccinated,” Westpac Chief Executive Officer Peter King said in a statement.

The move comes after a survey of more than 10,000 employees found that more than 90% said they were or wanted to be vaccinated, with only 4% undecided.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia is also discussing a vaccine mandate, while National Australia Bank and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. are following state guidelines, meaning staff in the state of Victoria, for example, must be fully vaccinated to attend a work site.  

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