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When Tyson Foods announced it would do so on Aug. needing coronavirus vaccines It was notable for all 120,000 U.S. employees because it included front-line workers at a time when company powers were applied mainly to office workers. At that time, less than half of the workforce was vaccinated.
Tyson’s chief medical officer, Dr. Claudia Coplein said that after nearly two months, 91 percent of Tyson’s U.S. workforce was fully vaccinated. Spoke to the DealBook newsletter about the consequences of the policy.
Tyson didn’t disclose vaccination rates by type of worker, but “initially the vaccination rate among our frontline workers was definitely lower than our office workers,” said Dr. coplein.
The United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents several thousand Tyson workers, approved the mandate in exchange for more benefits, such as paid sick leave. While frontline workers have until November 1 to get vaccinated (or seek exemptions), the company’s nearly 6,000 office workers have until Friday to do so.
About 91 percent of its 31,000 unionized employees are currently vaccinated, which is in line with the company’s overall rate, Tyson said. unlike some other big companiesTyson did not face any lawsuits during his tenure, but lost a handful of employees during his tenure; this number may increase as the deadline approaches.
One of the company’s poultry crops has achieved a 100 percent vaccination rate, down from 78 percent after Covid struck close to home. A viral video Dr. About Caleb Reeves, a young man in Arkansas who died of Covid, Coplein helped highlight the risk the virus poses to youth, “and we have a lot of young workers on the front lines.” Mr. Reeves’ uncle worked at a Tyson factory, and the video “gave them a personal link to say, ‘Hey, this could be my family, too,'” said Dr. coplein.
Tyson executives visited factories to have small group chats about vaccines. Dr. “It’s important to know that the misinformation is out there,” Coplein said. Some questions she hears regularly are whether the vaccine will affect fertility or pregnancy (evidence shows that it is not).
“The strongest conversations were when I sat with someone who was scared, emotional, or hesitant to get the vaccine,” he said, “and they really needed someone to listen to them with empathy.”
Fortune 500 companies and the White House’s Covid task force reached out to Tyson to discuss the company’s experience, especially after the White House asked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to order large employers to make vaccination mandatory.
Once OSHA sets more details and a timeline for mandates, Tyson said. it can take weeks, more companies will announce their vaccine requirements. When this happens, options will be limited for those leaving (or being released) because of a mission.
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