Having trouble getting Covid vaccine? Your company may offer this soon.

Pharmaceutical company AbbVie Inc.

ABBV 0.99%

he started giving doses to North Chicago headquarters employees, according to people familiar with the matter, prioritizing those over 65 and then operations and manufacturing workers. Abbott Laboratories ABT 1.07%

also started giving doses at its headquarters near skilled workers, such as manufacturing, food service and childcare, said a spokeswoman, and Tyson Foods Inc.

TSN 0.72%

delivered doses to employees at his beef factory in Joslin, Illinois, and to some workers in Iowa, a spokesman said.

Other large companies registered to supply doses include energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp.

XOM 3.78%

, the meat packer Smithfield Foods Inc. and machine manufacturers Caterpillar Inc.

and Deere DE 3.52%

& Co., according to Illinois public health records. Some of these companies manage or plan to hold closed vaccine delivery events, which means that only their own employees are eligible, and not the general public. The centers depend on state and local public health authorities for dose distribution.

Fund manager Fidelity Investments has registered to provide doses at its Boston headquarters and will begin giving vaccines to workers over 65 when it receives the Massachusetts vaccines, a spokesman said. A third-party health and wellness company will deliver the injections according to the state’s prioritization guidelines, he added.

During the pandemic, companies struggled to gain access to safety-related tools such as protective equipment and testing capabilities to protect workers and give customers and employees more confidence in shared spaces. Now his focus has shifted to vaccines.

The prioritization of vaccines differs from state to state. In some jurisdictions, who is eligible for doses depends purely on age. In others, any worker in a prioritized sector, from health to manufacturing, can receive a dose, regardless of whether their role involves interacting with the public, the ability to work at home or remotely, or the type of product they work on.

Companies wishing to vaccinate their employees often need to register with public health programs that approve who is eligible to receive Covid-19 vaccines. In general, the federal government distributes doses to states, territories, some large cities and some federal agencies, which then divide them between constituents or local health officials.

Some health equity researchers claim that state prioritization guidelines can be very broad and risk administering doses of vaccine to people who are not at high risk of contracting Covid-19 at work when supply remains restricted across the country.

Vaccination in the workplace helps to eliminate the traffic and leisure challenges for hourly workers and obtain doses efficiently for those in high-risk positions, such as those where social distance is not possible, said Dr. Janice Bowie, professor from the department of health, behavior and society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He also highlights the problem of classifying entire sectors as essential when workers’ roles, risks at work and health conditions vary widely, she said.

“This is certainly not black or white” from an ethical perspective, given the current limited supply of vaccines nationwide, Bowie said of companies that receive doses to give to employees.

Some health equity experts have said that employers’ administration of the Covid-19 vaccine can help speed delivery by removing skilled workers from the queue in public places and facilitating the appointment process. The challenge is that not all companies seek or obtain dose allocations, they said.

“It’s a balancing act,” said Mark Pfister, executive director of the Lake County Health Department in Illinois, about allocations for dose administrators in his jurisdiction, which include Abbott and AbbVie. Vaccine supplies have increased since the first days of launch, but many other entities now want doses, he said. His department asks companies to give priority to workers aged 65 and over, working together on manufacturing lines or living in the CEPs most affected by Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths.

Providing on-site doses gives employers better visibility into who received the vaccines than if workers traveled to publicly administered facilities, say corporate medical consultants. This also saves employers lost hours if workers have to travel to vaccine administration locations during business hours and saves employees the cost of lost wages, childcare and traffic.

“Employers have found that this is the best way to get their people back to work in the safest possible way,” said Tobias Barker, medical director at Everside Health, who helps employers with vaccination and record-keeping events.

A spokeswoman for Abbott said the company is working with public health officials in locations where it has factories to offer vaccines to skilled workers when doses are available. All doses of vaccine the company receives go only to employees who meet government requirements for the early stages of the vaccine, she said.

A spokeswoman for Deere & Co. said vaccines for its employees began last week at its five locations in Illinois. It will make doses available to production and maintenance employees at its manufacturing units and to employees who report consistently to factories or offices since March 2020, a minority of this picture.

Keira Lombardo, managing director of Smithfield, said the company and its partners can facilitate the rapid distribution of vaccines to food and agriculture workers and is doing so based on specific state guidelines. The company is prepared to help distribute to workers in other essential categories, he added.

An Exxon spokesman said the doses would be administered according to the requirements of the local health authority, prioritized for those in functions considered critical by the company. A Caterpillar spokeswoman declined to comment.

Airlines including United Airlines Holdings Inc.

and American Airlines Group Inc.

AAL -3.72%

they said they started giving doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine last week to certain employees at their respective health clinics at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. United said employees who live or work in Chicago will be eligible if they are at least 65 years old or are members of the flight crew. American said its O’Hare-based mainline and regional employees are eligible, but those with customer service roles would have priority.

The Biden government hopes to have doses of the vaccine available to all adults across the country by May, although it is unclear when people will be able to receive them. Increases in the supply of vaccines have fueled some employers’ hopes of bringing employees back to offices this year.

Many tried to encourage, but did not compel, vaccination. Several companies with public-facing employees, from Trader Joe’s to Instacart Inc. and Dollar General Corp.

, gave workers the equivalent of several hours of pay in exchange for vaccination.

Medical consultants say that offering doses on the spot can create a network effect in which colleagues see their bosses or coworkers receive the doses and become more receptive to doing so themselves.

—Alison Sider contributed to this article.

Write to Sarah Krouse at [email protected]