Having trouble getting the Covid vaccine? Your company will soon be able to offer this.

AbbVie Pharmaceutical Company Inc.

ABBV 0.99%

has begun dosing staff at its North Chicago headquarters, according to people familiar with the issue, giving priority to those over 65 and then workers in operations and manufacturing. Abbott Laboratories ABT 1.07%

has also begun dosing at its headquarters near eligible workers, such as manufacturing, food service and daycare, a spokeswoman said, and Tyson Foods Inc.

TSN 0.72%

has delivered doses to staff at its Joslin, Illinois beef plant, and to some Iowa workers, a spokesman said.

Other large companies registered to provide dosage include energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp.

XOM 3.78%

, meat packer Smithfield Foods Inc. and Caterpillar machinery manufacturers Inc.

and Deere DE 3.52%

& Co., according to Illinois public health records. Some of these companies organize or plan to organize closed vaccination events, meaning only their own staff is eligible, not the general public. Sites depend on state and local public health authorities for dose allocation.

Money manager Fidelity Investments has registered to provide doses at the Boston headquarters and will begin firing workers over the age of 65 when it receives vaccines from Massachusetts, a spokesman said. A third-party health and wellness company will provide the features in accordance with state prioritization guidelines, he added.

Throughout the pandemic, companies have tried to access security-related tools, such as protective equipment and testing capabilities to protect workers and give more confidence to customers and staff in shared spaces. Now his focus has been on vaccines.

Vaccine prioritization differs from state to state. In some jurisdictions, who is eligible for dosage depends solely on age. In others, any worker in a prioritized sector, from healthcare to manufacturing, can get a dose regardless of whether their role involves interacting with the public, the ability to work from home, or in a way remote or the type of product they work on.

Companies that want to fire their workers usually have to enroll in public health programs that approve who is eligible to receive Covid-19 vaccine assignments. In general, the federal government allocates doses to states, territories, some large cities, and some federal agencies, which then distribute them among the components or local health authorities.

Some health equity researchers say state prioritization guidelines can be overly broad and run the risk of receiving vaccine doses to people who are not at high risk of getting Covid-19 at work when supply is restricted nationwide. .

Vaccination in the workplace helps eliminate traffic and rest challenges for hourly workers, and efficiently doses those in high-risk positions, such as those where social distancing is not possible, say Dr. Janice Bowie, professor of health, behavior, and society in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. It also highlights a problem with the classification of entire sectors as essential, when worker roles, occupational hazards and health conditions vary widely, he said.

“Certainly, this is neither black nor white” from an ethical perspective, given the current limited number of vaccines nationwide, Dr. Bowie said of companies receiving doses to give to staff.

Some health equity experts said the administration of Covid-19 vaccines by employers can help speed up distribution, as it removes eligible workers offline in public places and facilitates the appointment process. The challenge is that not all companies seek or are granted dose allocation, they said.

“It’s a balancing act,” said Mark Pfister, executive director of the Lake County Health Department in Illinois, about assignments to dose managers in his jurisdiction, which include Abbott and AbbVie. Vaccine supply has increased since the early days of the launch, but many other entities now want doses, he said. His department is asking companies to give priority to workers over the age of 65, who work together on manufacturing lines or who live in the zip codes most affected by Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths.

Providing in situ dosing provides employers with better visibility into who has been shot than if workers were traveling to public facilities, corporate medical advisors say. It also saves employers lost hours if workers have to travel to vaccine administration sites during business hours and saves staff the cost of lost wages, childcare and traffic.

“Employers have found that this is the best way to get your population back to work as safely as possible,” said Tobias Barker, chief physician at Everside Health, which helps employers with vaccination and registration events. of records.

An Abbott spokeswoman said the company works with public health officials at locations where it has manufacturing facilities to offer vaccines to eligible workers when doses are available. He said any dose of vaccine the company receives will only go to employees who meet government requirements for the initial stages of the vaccine.

A spokeswoman for Deere & Co. said vaccines for its employees began last week at its five locations in Illinois. It will make available to the doses the production and maintenance employees of its manufacturing units and for salaried employees who present constants in their factories or offices since March 2020, which is a minority of this staff.

Keira Lombardo, Smithfield’s managing director, said the company and its partners can facilitate the rapid distribution of vaccines to food and agriculture workers and does so based on specific state guidelines. The company is ready to help with distribution to workers from other essential categories, he added.

An Exxon spokesman said doses would be given according to local health authority requirements, prioritized for those in positions the company considers important. A Caterpillar spokeswoman declined to comment.

Airlines including United Airlines Holdings Inc.

and American Airlines Group Inc.

AAL -3.72%

said they began administering doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine last week to certain staff at their respective health clinics at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. United said employees living or working in Chicago would be eligible if they are at least 65 years old or are members of the flight crew. American said its regional and major O’Hare-based employees are eligible, but priority will be given to those with customer-oriented roles.

The Biden administration expects to have doses of vaccines available to all adults across the country before May, although it is unclear when people will be able to receive them. Increases in the supply of vaccines have dampened hopes of some employers to return staff to offices this year.

Many have tried to encourage, but not demand, vaccination. Several companies with public staff, from Trader Joe’s to Instacart Inc. and General Dollar Corp.

, have given workers the equivalent of several hours of pay in exchange for getting vaccinated.

Medical advisors say offering doses on site can create a networking effect in which colleagues see their bosses or co-workers receiving doses and then are more receptive to doing so themselves.

—Alison Sider contributed to this article.

Write to Sarah Krouse to [email protected]