HealthWell Solutions: How Will the Covid-19 Vaccine Affect Return to Work Strategies?
Written by: HealthWell Solutions
As more employees are now getting vaccinated, some questions are beginning to arise for employers to implement safety and COVID return to work strategies for their employees. Even with those that are vaccinated, the CDC and the US’s Chief Medical Advisor, Dr. Fauci, have already stated that it is very important to continue to require social distancing and other COVID safety efforts such as safe distancing, hand sanitizers, temperature checks, and symptom checks to prevent transmission. Research is still underway to determine the effectiveness of COVID antibodies and if the vaccines will prevent those who have received it from spreading Covid-19.
As employers look at these stark realities, it is important to consider how vaccinations will impact their return to work strategy for ongoing employee and organizational safety.
Herd Immunity - It is estimated, that the US will not reach full rollout of Vaccines until September for all of those who want to be vaccinated. Further, herd immunity is a target of 70% of the population vaccinated according to infectious disease experts at Emory University
Employee Choice - Not all employees will choose to be vaccinated. A recent AP-NORC poll of 1,055 adults showing that only about 65% of Americans intend on getting the vaccine for various reasons which in turn means that COVID herd immunity may not happen and the virus will continue to circulate for years given the new variants and the ease with which it spreads.
Incentives – numerous employers are beginning to offer incentives for their employees to get vaccinated including 2 – 4 hours of paid time off work, gift cards, and subsidies for public transportation.
HealthWell Solutions can help guide your policies and answer questions to support employee safety. Go to www.employercovidcheck.com to learn about different strategies that can keep your employees safe including maintaining symptom and temperature checks, Digital Contact Tracing Solutions, and providing testing options.
HealthWell Solutions are a Proxxi Certified Partner and provide integrated Contact Tracing Solutions to industry.