Employers can boost vaccinations
We may be done with COVID, but COVID isn’t done with us.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest report, the XBB.1.5 omicron variant now accounts for 80% of all coronavirus cases in the United States and it is just as contagious as its predecessors. Hospitalizations are at least as high as with the omicron wave in March 2022. In the Bay Area, there are growing concerns about a new COVID wave as viral levels in wastewater soar.
But with the COVID public health emergency set to expire on May 11, more companies are moving to a hybrid work model, requiring employees to be in the office for part of the work week. Earlier this month, for example, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that starting in May, corporate staff will be required to be in the office at least three days a week. Companies are also rolling back their COVID policies. Apple, for example, will no longer have unlimited sick leave for workers experiencing COVID symptoms.
But with the coronavirus still spreading and employees heading back to the office, it’s inevitable that there will be outbreaks in the workplace and they may be worse than employers are anticipating. Why? Because most people are not getting their bivalent booster.
According to the CDC, fewer than 20% of all Americans and fewer than 45% of those over 65 have gotten their booster. That’s not a good sign.
Bivalent boosters are far more effective at protecting people from infection and hospitalization due to COVID than previous vaccines. In January, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found the bivalent vaccine to be 58.7% effective against hospitalization compared to 25% for the monovalent vaccine in people 12 and older. The study also found the bivalent booster’s effectiveness against infection was 61.8% compared to 24.9% for the monovalent. Moreover, a National Institutes of Health study found bivalent boosters were 37% more effective at protecting people from severe COVID.
But without a boosted workforce, the fallout for any company that suffers an outbreak could range from an unanticipated amount of sick leave to increased employee fear of returning to the office coupled with an all but guaranteed public relations nightmare.
While some companies may be tempted to enforce a bivalent booster mandate, doing so would be a bad idea. Forced vaccination invites backlash and resistance. In 2021, thousands of workers across the country opted to get fired instead of complying with a forced vaccine mandate from an employer, and the subject quickly became a defining political wedge issue between Democrats and Republicans. Indeed, a May 2022 analysis published in the British Journal of Medicine found that mandatory COVID vaccine policies have damaging effects on public trust, vaccine confidence, political polarization, human rights, inequities and social well-being.
So what can employers do to protect their workforce, lessen the number of sick days and minimize outbreaks? Give their employees a nudge.
Rather than mandating boosters, a much better approach is to create a work culture in which opting to get the booster is viewed not only as the norm but as a win-win behavior for the employee and the company.
For starters, executives can publicly advocate for the new boosters and be an example by getting the shot themselves — much like government leaders did in December 2020 when the first COVID vaccine became available. The CEO at one of my client organizations took a step further by writing a blog post for an internal company newsletter about the benefits of getting the bivalent booster, accompanied by a photo of himself getting the jab. He also strongly encouraged his C-suite and mid-level managers to get the booster and discuss doing so with their team members.
The company also brought in a wellrespected epidemiologist to talk about the benefits of getting a bivalent vaccine booster and answer questions from staff members.
To nudge employees, this company offered paid time off for getting the shot, along with sick leave for any side effects. It also created a competition between teams within the organization. Team members could submit anonymous proof of their shots, and the first three teams to have all their members get shots got treated to an all-expense-paid weekend getaway. The company offered the same prize through a lottery for five employees across the organization who got the booster within the first three months it became available. After two months, the company saw increased booster uptake, and after two more months, a reduction in sick days.
Adopting a proactive approach to encourage employees to get boosted can avoid the blowback of a vaccine mandate while still increasing vaccination rates across a company. The best way to protect a company’s bottom line from COVID is to protect its workforce from the virus. Fostering a culture in which vaccinations are a norm is the best way to achieve that.