United leaders called it a matter of safety and cited
"incredibly compelling" evidence of the effectiveness of the
vaccines. Tyson Foods this week said it is requiring its entire U.S. workforce
of more than 139,000 to get vaccinated against COVID-19, while other companies
are requiring masks while in offices or delaying the return to the workplace
entirely.
"We know some of you will disagree with this decision
to require the vaccine for all United employees," CEO Scott Kirby and
President Brett Hart told employees Friday. But, they added, "the facts
are crystal clear: everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated."
United is the first major U.S. airline to announce it will
require vaccination for workers. The airline has been requiring vaccination of
new hires since mid-June. Unvaccinated workers are required to wear face masks
at company offices. Meanwhile, Microsoft has said it would require proof of
vaccination for all employees, vendors and visitors to its U.S. offices
starting in September, echoing steps taken by Google and Facebook, according to
the Associated Press.
A survey of 160 businesses by Oxford Economics found that
leaders view the Delta variant of COVID-19 to pose the greatest risk to the
global economy.
"Fewer businesses anticipate activity returning to
pre-pandemic levels in the second half of this year," Jamie Thompson, head
of macro scenarios at Oxford, wrote in a Thursday research note.
"Correspondingly more respondents expect recovery to be delayed to 2022 or
even later."
90% of pilots vaccinated
The Chicago-based airline estimates that up to 90% of its
pilots and close to 80% of its flight attendants have already gotten
vaccinated. They get incentives to do so.
The airline told U.S. employees Friday that they will need
to be fully vaccinated by October 25 or five weeks after the FDA grants full
approval to any one vaccine — whichever date comes first. So far, the FDA has
only granted emergency-use approval of the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson &
Johnson vaccines. Full approval is expected soon.
Each employee will have to send an image of their vaccine
card to the company. Those who don't will be terminated, with exemptions
granted only for religious or health reasons, officials said.
Employees who are already vaccinated or do so by September
20 will get an extra day of pay, according to the memo from Kirby and Hart.
Like United, Delta Air Lines has operated vaccination
centers for employees and recently began requiring the shots for new hires.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said this week that 73% of the airline's workforce is
vaccinated. Executives at other airlines have similarly encouraged their
workers to get vaccinated, even offering bonuses and paid time off to get the
shots, but haven't made them mandatory.
Travel restrictions
Airlines and other companies in the travel business have
been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, which led to sharp travel
restrictions. The United States requires people entering the country, including
U.S. citizens, to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test, and the Biden
administration plans to require non-U.S. citizens to be vaccinated before
entering the country.
Tyson Foods' vaccination mandate is notable because unlike
the tech companies, Tyson relies on many lower-paid workers who cannot do their
jobs remotely. The president of the United Food and Commercial Workers
criticized Tyson for imposing the requirement while the vaccines still have
only emergency FDA approval.
A few governments are getting involved. California and New
York City will require employees to be vaccinated or face weekly testing, and
the California mandate extends to workers in public and private hospitals and
nursing homes.
The new rules come as the U.S. struggles with a surge in
infections driven by the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19. The
seven-day average of daily new reported coronavirus cases has jumped to more
than 90,000 a day from around 12,000 a month ago, although hospitalizations and
deaths have risen more slowly.
0 comments:
Post a Comment