In the search for access to Covid’s vaccines, big employers like Tyson Foods are not doing better than many Americans individually. Tight supplies are almost always keeping them waiting.
The meat processing company has received its largest allocation of vaccines so far this week and is carrying out vaccinations for workers at its factories in Missouri, Illinois and Virginia. But, there are only 1,000 doses in the three states.
Executives say so far this month they have received 25 to 50 doses at a time to inoculate their occupational health team and workers over 65
“We are not refusing any opportunity to get a vaccine for our team members,” said Tom Brower, senior vice president of health and safety at Tyson.
However, opportunities were limited. With 120,000 workers in two dozen states, the company has not been able to access sufficient supplies to maintain vaccination clinics on a larger scale.
“We are going to these jurisdictions asking, you know, 1,000 or 1,500 doses,” said Dr. Daniel Castillo, medical director of Matrix Medical Network, Tyson’s occupational health provider who has been conducting on-site tests for the meat packer.
Even in states that are now providing access for essential workers to be inoculated, uncertainty about vaccine supply is leaving large employers on hold; local health departments cannot give them a timetable for when they will have access.
“They don’t know, sometimes getting into how much they really have to allocate to us. And that is part of the challenge not to have that line of sight,” said Castillo.
Tyson and rival slaughterhouses JBS and Smithfield Foods were criticized for widespread outbreaks by Covid at its facilities early in the pandemic. At Tyson’s Iowa pork processing plant, managers were fired after an investigation found that they had bet on how many workers would be sick. Congress launched an investigation into security breaches in refrigerators. Tyson and the other companies are cooperating with the investigation.
Since the pandemic began, more than 12,500 Tyson workers have been infected with the coronavirus, according to the Food & Environment Reporting Network surveillance group. Tyson does not confirm the numbers, but says the Covid-19 protocols he took on kept employees safe.
The company worked with Matrix Medical to provide on-site testing to contain potential outbreaks and instituted safety measures, such as plastic partitions to reduce potential exposure on production lines. Last year, they also expanded local health clinics and launched a pilot program to provide primary care services without copayment, as part of a long-term initiative to improve overall worker health.
While several companies are offering cash bonuses to encourage workers to get the vaccine, Tyson opted for persuasion through an educational campaign to combat vaccine hesitation among its refrigerators, mostly Latin and African-Americans.
“We didn’t want to take the approach of forcing the vaccine. We really want to help team members make informed decisions for their own health care, their own safety,” said Brower.
It is not the only major employer that is left empty in the competition to track doses of the vaccine. Amazon, Walmart and others are lobbying federal and state authorities to provide access to vaccinations in the workplace and even contact vaccine manufacturers for supply, with little success so far.
“If every avenue leads to the same place, which is a scarce vaccine, no matter what avenue, it will be a challenge,” said Castillo.
Companies don’t want to be seen as trying to jump the line – they argue that they can take the pressure off the system for individuals by vaccinating their large populations of employees. In the meantime, Tyson is giving its employees four hours of paid time off to get the vaccine elsewhere, if they can make an appointment.