Tyson tops 96% rate in workplace vaccinations

Nearly three months after Tyson Foods mandated coronavirus vaccines for all its 120,000 U.S. workers, more than 96% of them are vaccinated, the company’s chief executive, Donnie King, said in an employee memo Tuesday.

Less than half of Tyson’s workforce was inoculated when it announced Aug. 3 that it would require vaccines. Nearly 60,000 more Tyson employees got the shot following the announcement, King said. Tyson has said workers must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1 as a condition of employment.

“This is an incredible result,” King wrote, “not only for our company, but for your families and our communities across the country.”

Tyson was one of the first major companies to mandate vaccines after incentives like paid time off to be inoculated started to lose traction. Its stance was notable because it included front-line workers even as labor shortage concerns prevented many companies from expanding vaccine mandates beyond the office.

Meatpacking involves close quarters and long hours, which make its workers particularly vulnerable to catching the coronavirus. A number of workers died last year after the virus swept through the nation’s processing plants.

Tyson has plants across the South and Midwest.

In Arkansas, where it is based, 57% of residents have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

As part of its efforts, Tyson negotiated an agreement with the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents several thousand of its workers, to endorse the mandate in return for more benefits for all workers, like paid sick leave.