General Motors (GM) requires its salaried employees to provide their vaccination status to inform the company’s safety protocols for the future, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The carmaker told the newspaper that hourly workers are encouraged to report their vaccination status as well, but doing so is voluntary.
“Notification of the vaccination status of our employees helps GM Medical assess the overall immunity of our employees’ population and determine when GM should relax or strengthen certain COVID-19 safety protocols … such as l ‘use of masks, physical distancing and facility occupancy rates,’ GM spokeswoman Maria Raynal told the Detroit Free Press.
The Wall Street Journal first reported mandatory notification of the vaccine.
Raynal told the news media that employees had previously been providing their vaccination status to the company voluntarily, but explained that the company took the step to require salaried employees to report their vaccination status “to improve our data collection “.
Reuters reported that of Detroit’s “big three” auto companies, GM is the first to issue that requirement. However, the Detroit Free Press noted that employees of all three companies have not been required to receive the vaccine.
Still, that could change given the recent full authorization of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Pfizer vaccine, which opens its doors to businesses and localities to start demanding it from their workers.
Organizations are also betting on full FDA authorization to help convince some who had previously hesitated to get vaccinated for inoculation.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 73% of Americans 18 years of age or older have received at least one dose of vaccine, while nearly 63% are fully vaccinated.
The Hill has contacted GM to comment.