More companies to mandate vaccine
Walt Disney Co., UPS among companies requiring workers to be inoculated following FDA approval of Pfizer shot
Agrowing number of companies were moving to impose vaccine requirements as the Food and Drug Administration issued full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, eliminating one of the central remaining arguments used by the vaccine-hesitant.
CVS Health, UPS, Deloitte and Walt Disney Co. said they would add or expand vaccine requirements for workers — while, in a sign of increasing vaccine requirements at sporting events, Louisiana State University said Tuesday it will require all spectators at Tiger Stadium over the age of 12 to provide proof of vaccination or a recent negative test.
In taking the new measures, some companies cited the spread of the delta variant as well as the FDA approval, saying it would put more workers at ease with requiring the vaccine.
“We took this step because of the spread of the delta variant and the dramatic rise in cases among the unvaccinated,” Michael DeAngelis, a CVS Health spokesman, said in an email. “However, the FDA approval underscores the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness, and we are pleased that it may help reassure any employees who have been hesitant to get vaccinated.”
CVS Health, which owns a chain of nearly 10,000 retail pharmacies, as well as the health insurer Aetna and pharmacy benefits manager CVS Caremark, said it will require nurses, care managers and all corporate staff to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 31, and all pharmacists working in its retail stores to be vaccinated by Nov. 30.
Deloitte told staff Tuesday it would require employees to be vaccinated by Oct. 11 to access its U.S. facilities, a date it noted in a statement was “seven weeks after full FDA approval of a major vaccine.”
And Walt Disney Co. will require employees who are members of its largest union at Walt Disney World in Florida to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 22, under a deal reached Monday with a union coalition.
Disney’s move came several weeks after it announced a vaccine mandate for all salaried and nonunion hourly employees in the United States.
Eric Clinton, president of Unite Here Local 362, which represents unionized workers at Walt Disney World in Florida, said the union had been negotiating for four weeks. He noted that a majority of the union’s members are already vaccinated, but “any FDA approval is helpful. Our organization has made no bones about it — we are pro vaccine.” (Disney said it had also reached a deal with the Actors’ Equity Association on Monday and is continuing discussions with other unions.)
Oil and gas company Chevron said in an emailed statement Monday that it is requiring expatriate employees, workers traveling abroad, Gulf of Mexico offshore workers and some onshore support personnel to be vaccinated.
The company said its decision predates the FDA approval.
As the delta variant surged, scuttling workplace reopening plans, a number of employers had already begun to impose vaccine mandates — even before the FDA decision about full approval of the Pfizer vaccine. Google and Facebook announced mandates for certain employees in late July, and meat processor Tyson Foods and United Airlines did so in early August.
Those moves accelerated over the summer as the federal government announced that workers would have to get a coronavirus vaccine or comply with regular testing, mandatory masking and other restrictions.
In remarks made Monday at the White House, President Joe Biden urged companies to increase vaccine requirements.
“If you’re a business leader, a nonprofit leader, a state or local leader who has been waiting for full FDA approval to require vaccinations, I call on you now to do that — require it. Do what I did last month and require your employees to get vaccinated or face strict requirements,” Biden said.
Lawyers and human resources experts who work with businesses said they anticipate more companies will add mandates in the coming weeks.
“With the full FDA approval, and the president’s comments, that will prompt companies to move those discussions forward,” said Wade Symons, a partner with Mercer. He said he spoke with a client who decided to go “all the way” on a mandate rather than just incentivize workers to get their shots.
Employers that still choose not to mandate the vaccine may be doing so out of concern about replacing workers at a time when many industries are scrambling to find staff.
“Which part of your workforce are you going to frustrate: Those who don’t want to get vaccinated or those who want everyone to get vaccinated?” said Brian Kropp, vice president of research at Gartner.