A worker loads customer orders in a trailer inside the million-square-foot Amazon distribution warehouse that opened last fall in Fall River, MA on March 23, 2017.
John Tlumacki | Boston Globe | Getty Images
Some employees at Amazon’s warehouse may soon be vaccinated against Covid-19 at their workplace.
Amazon announced on Thursday that it is setting up on-site vaccination clinics at call centers in Missouri, followed by Nevada and Kansas in the coming weeks. In clinics, which are expected to run for about five days, vaccines will be administered to employees by licensed health professionals.
The company said it hopes to launch vaccination clinics in additional warehouses across the country, as more vaccine supplies become available to frontline workers in other states.
This is at a time when the United States continues to accelerate the pace of vaccinations, with the country administering more than 2.5 million vaccines a day. Companies with essential workers, including Amazon, have been competing to give their workers priority access to vaccines.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines that employers with a large workforce can begin installing Covid-19 vaccine clinics on site. Agriculture giant Cargill, Tyson Foods and some auto makers and manufacturers in Detroit are among a growing list of employers who have launched clinics at some of its facilities.
Heather MacDougall, Amazon’s vice president for health and safety at work worldwide, told CNBC in an interview that the company has worked with a third-party administrator who protects Covid’s vaccines on behalf of Amazon.
“Most of these conversations take place at the state and local level where these decisions are being made, in terms of who is eligible for the vaccine,” added MacDougall.
Some of Amazon’s frontline workers have already been vaccinated in the states where they are eligible.
The company urged its front-line employees to be vaccinated off-site, offering them a bonus of up to $ 80, or $ 40 for each dose. Employees who experience side effects with the Covid vaccine can take unpaid time off, said Amazon.
Within its deposits, Amazon has taken steps to alleviate the fears or concerns surrounding the vaccine among its frontline employees. In private Facebook groups, some warehouse workers in the United States expressed skepticism and uncertainty about the vaccine’s side effects or the potential that Amazon will require vaccinations among its workforce.
Amazon posted educational information and positive messages about the vaccine in deposits, including in “inSTALLments”, the information leaflets posted in the facility’s bathrooms. A message displayed by CNBC told workers that the vaccine is “safe and effective” and is “the fastest way for life to return to normal”.
The company also sent a questionnaire to warehouse employees through Amazon Connections, an internal survey system, to assess their attitudes toward the Covid vaccine and other security measures against the coronavirus. A message sent to workers said “Covid vaccines and regular Covid tests can help keep you and those you care about safe”, with workers having the option to answer “OK” or “I prefer not to respond” to according to a separate document seen by CNBC.
Amazon is already seeing considerable interest in local vaccination clinics. More than 1,000 frontline employees signed up to be vaccinated at Amazon’s first local clinic in a warehouse outside of St. Louis, Missouri, which opened on Thursday, the company said.
– Bertha Coombs, from CNBC, contributed reporting for this article.