This month, Mr Biden called on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to order large employers to make vaccination against the coronavirus mandatory. Tyson expects that when OSHA outlines more details and a timeline for mandates, which could take weeks, more companies will announce vaccine requirements. When this happens, options will be limited for those who drop out (or are made redundant) rather than getting the shot.
As businesses await further guidance from the Biden administration, advisers are looking to details released by the White House on its tenure for federal contractors for clues. This mandate, described last week, will apply to employees working both remotely and in the office. It will also allow “limited” exceptions.
The unions, which tentatively welcomed Mr Biden’s tenure, have become a crucial ally in efforts by companies like the Walt Disney Company and AT&T to vaccinate their workers. Tyson said he was able to negotiate a deal with the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents several thousand of its workers, to approve the mandate in return for more benefits for all workers, like paid sick leave. .
“Having the union approve our vaccination requirement certainly means a lot, both to the company and to our team members who are part of the union,” said Dr Coplein.
The State of Vaccine Mandates in the United States
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- Vaccination rules. On August 23, the FDA granted full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for people 16 years of age and older, paving the way for mandates in the public and private sectors. Such warrants are authorized by law and have been confirmed in court challenges.
- College and universities. More than 400 colleges and universities require students to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Almost all of them are in states that voted for President Biden.
- Schools. California became the first state to issue a vaccination warrant for all educators in public and private schools. New York City has also introduced a vaccination mandate for teachers and staff, but it has not yet come into effect due to legal issues. On September 27, a federal appeal board overturned a decision that temporarily suspended that mandate. this. Los Angeles has made vaccines mandatory for students 12 and older who attend in-person classes.
- Hospitals and medical centers. Many hospitals and large healthcare systems require their employees to be vaccinated. Mandates for healthcare workers in California and New York state appear to have forced thousands of holdouts to receive injections.
- New York City. Proof of vaccination is required from workers and customers for indoor meals, gymnasiums, shows and other indoor situations. City education staff and hospital staff also need to be vaccinated.
- At the federal level. September 9 President Biden announced a vaccination mandate for the vast majority of federal workers. This mandate will apply to employees of the executive, including the White House and all federal agencies and members of the armed forces.
- In tthe private sector. Mr Biden demanded that all businesses with more than 100 employees require weekly vaccination or testing, helping to propel new corporate vaccination policies. Some companies, like United Airlines and Tyson Foods, had mandates in place before Mr. Biden’s announcement.
Tyson said about 91% of its 31,000 unionized workers were vaccinated, which is the company’s overall rate.
One of the company’s poultry factories has achieved a 100% vaccination rate, up from 78% previously, after Covid struck near us. A viral video on Caleb Reeves, a young man from Arkansas who died of Covid, helped highlight the risk of the virus to young people, “and we have a lot of young frontline workers,” said Dr Coplein . Mr. Reeves’ uncle worked at a factory in Tyson, and the video “gave them a personal connection to say, ‘Hey, that could be my family too,'” she said.
The vaccine’s mandate was part of Tyson’s larger effort to tackle the virus, which ravaged its workforce at the start of the pandemic. Meat processors were criticized last year for a lack of worker protection amid outbreaks at many factories. A number of workers have died after the virus swept through processing plants, causing illness and shutdowns.