A worker loads customer orders into a tractor-trailer waiting inside Amazon’s million-square-foot distribution warehouse that opened last fall in Fall River, MA, on March 23, 2017.
John Tlumacki | Boston Globe | Getty Images
Some Amazon warehouse workers will soon be able to get vaccinated against Covid-19 in their workplace.
Amazon announced Thursday that it will install on-site vaccination clinics in Missouri satisfaction centers, 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 care providers.
The company said it expects to launch vaccination clinics in additional warehouses across the country as more vaccine supplies become available to front-line employees in other states.
It comes as the United States continues to pick up the pace of vaccinations, with the nation administering more than 2.5 million shots a day. Companies with essential workers, including Amazon, have been competing to give their workers priority access to traits.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines for employers with a large workforce to begin installing Covid-19 vaccine clinics. Agriculture giant Cargill, Tyson Foods and some Detroit automakers and manufacturers are among a growing list of entrepreneurs who have set up on-site clinics at some of their facilities.
Heather MacDougall, Amazon’s vice president for occupational safety and health around the world, told CNBC in an interview that the company has been working with an external administrator who insures Covid vaccines on behalf of Amazon.
“Most of these conversations take place at the state and local level where these decisions are made, in terms of who is eligible for the vaccine,” MacDougall added.
Some of Amazon’s front-line workers have already been vaccinated in states where they are eligible.
The company has pushed its front-line workers to get vaccinated off-site by offering them a bonus of up to $ 80 or $ 40 for each dose. Employees who experience Covid vaccine side effects are eligible to take unpaid free time, Amazon said.
Within its warehouses, Amazon has taken steps to allay fears or concerns about the vaccine among its front-line workers. In private Facebook groups, some warehouse workers in the United States have expressed skepticism and uncertainty about the vaccine’s side effects or the potential that Amazon will require vaccinations among its workforce.
Amazon has posted educational information and positive messages about the vaccine in stores, including the “inSTALLments,” fact sheets posted in the facility’s restrooms. A message seen by CNBC told workers the vaccine is “safe and effective” and that it is the “fastest way to get life back to normal.”
The company also sent a questionnaire to warehouse workers through Amazon Connections, an internal survey system, to assess their attitudes about the Covid vaccine and other coronavirus safety measures. A request sent to workers said that “Covid vaccines and regular Covid testing can help keep you and those you care about safe,” with workers having the option to respond. agreement “or” I’d rather not respond, “according to a separate document seen by CNBC.
Amazon already sees considerable interest in on-site vaccination clinics. More than 1,000 front-line employees have signed up to get vaccinated at Amazon’s first clinic in a warehouse on the outskirts of St. Louis. Louis, Missouri, which opened Thursday, the company said.
– Bertha Coombs, of CNBC, contributed reporting on this article.