Internet giant Google announced Wednesday that it will require the vaccination of all its employees who work in offices, in a measure popular with a growing number of public companies in the United States.

The group's managing director, Sundar Pichai, said in a statement that this measure will be implemented "in the coming weeks" in the United States before being expanded to other regions of the world "in the coming months."

But he made it clear that it would not include countries where vaccines are not readily available.

The company said that Google will soon provide details about exceptions to this procedure "for people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons or specific population groups."

Google did not immediately respond to an AFP question about these possible exceptions.

"Vaccination is one of the most important ways for us and our communities to stay healthy," said Sundar Pichai.

At the end of March 2020, Google closed most of its buildings and asked its employees to work from home. On Wednesday, it postponed the official return to the offices to Oct. 18, after originally scheduling it for Sept. 1. 

As of that date, the company assumes that about 80 percent of employees will return to work physically on the company's premises, at least three days a week. The group planned that about twenty percent of its employees would continue to work at home.

The US Federal Agency for Enforcement of Laws against Discrimination in the Workplace said employers can require their employees to submit a vaccination certificate with exceptions for medical reasons or religious objections.