A general manager is posting a $ 500 bonus so workers can receive Covid-19 vaccines

It is among large and small companies across the country trying to vaccinate most staff to reduce the risk of job transmission and finally to relax some of the strict and costly job security measures that have been in place for almost a year.

Jeff Dunn, CEO of Bolthouse, described his philosophy as “increasing now because it gives us the best chance of getting the herd immunity quickly.” The closely dedicated company has already spent tens of millions of dollars on security protocols, including testing, protective equipment, free time and hiring new workers to cover when others isolate themselves, he said.

Bolthouse, like some other employers, has gotten vaccine doses to public health officials to distribute directly to its workers. As an agri-food company, it is among the currently eligible priority groups in California.

The company employs about 1,800 workers per hour at the main plant in Kern County, California, and 300 office workers in the area. It is estimated that between 1,300 and 1,400 plant employees need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, a point at which a substantial majority of the population is protected against Covid-19 through vaccination or natural infection, which limits its spread. (Bolthouse also claims vaccines and insures doses for workers in Arizona, Washington and Illinois).

To date, about 1,100 workers at the plant have signed up to receive shots and, across the company, 475 workers have received at least one dose. Bolthouse gave more than 300 additional shots on Friday.

Bolthouse asks workers to submit photos of their vaccination cards when they receive doses. Executives say it’s hard to know when the company can achieve its goal of immunity to the herd, because dose supplies fluctuate and employees’ willingness to receive shots changes.

Tracking which workers have been vaccinated is a challenge for companies with multiple plants and locations, as states — and many counties and cities — have their own plans to prioritize who is eligible to receive doses.

“It’s a very decentralized process,” said Eduardo Alvarez, chief operating officer of biotechnology company Amyris Inc.,

AMRS 5.74%

which has provided some staff members with letters to show on vaccine appointments that prove they are eligible. “The advantage and difficulty of this is that you have the role as a company of informing employees” as to when they become eligible for the shots, he added.

Amyris has surveyed its 500 U.S. employees about their vaccination status, but needs no proof. Other employers plan to use aggregate health insurance claims to get information on how many workers have been vaccinated.

Mark Smucker, CEO of JM Smucker Co.

SJM 1.98%

, said his company’s insurance provider can tell executives how many workers have been vaccinated, although he does not expect to have a significant presence in the office until late summer.

“By then, you would probably have some degree of immunity to the herd,” he said.

New strains of the virus can further complicate efforts to protect workers by introducing a new variable a year into the pandemic.

Bolthouse paid full-time workers an extra $ 100 a week to recognize their role as essential workers for the past twelve months, ending the program when it began the $ 500 vaccine incentive plan.

Rafaela Cisneros, a 38-year-old human resources manager, received her first dose on March 12th. He was part of the implementation of the Bolthouse vaccination and spent weeks addressing the hesitation among workers who read false information on social media or were worried about being shot.

“If I can influence one person, I could influence another. If we can reach that number of herd immunity that America requires, it can bring us back to new normalcy, ”said Ms. Cisneros.

Weeks before he learned he would be able to offer doses on site, Bolthouse set up shop in his plant car park and began an employee education program. The workers, including two brothers, whose father, also a Bolthouse worker, died after hiring Covid-19, now travel around recruiting people to get vaccinated.

The company anticipated hesitations among the plant’s workforce, about 80 percent of whom are Latino, Dunn said. Reluctance to get vaccinated among Latinos, who have been disproportionately infected with the virus, has roots for some in online misinformation about the effectiveness and safety of vaccines, for others in fear of incurring health care costs. for side effects that cannot be allowed Others, concerned about jeopardizing their immigration status, should benefit from public benefits to pay for health care costs, say advocates for agricultural and food workers.

A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation in February found that 48% of Latino adults wanted to wait to be vaccinated, did not want to receive doses, or were inoculated only if they were required to work, school, or other activities. compared to 37% whites.

“You just have to contact and help people and understand their concerns,” Dunn said. He hopes there will be a network effect caused by employees watching their colleagues be safely vaccinated at work.

He tells staff that achieving herd immunity could make some aspects of the job easier. Bolthouse has separated workers into pods with colored cords that indicate who can interact, from workspaces to lunch, and monitors workers ’movements across the floor to make it easier to track contacts when people get sick.

Write to Sarah Krouse to [email protected]