Fear and caution mark reactions to vaccine mandates, as refuseniks dig in their heels. Also: What happens when the U.S. stays in Afghanistan beyond August 31?
On employers and vaccines: tie the shot to the availability of good employer-subsidized health insurance. No need to keep an anti-vaxxer in the company's main risk pool of they are going to raise costs for everyone else. Provide the minimal level required by law and treat the real plan as a bonus for employees who got the shot.
Alternatively: charge a fee every pay period for being unvaccinated. My company does that if you're a smoker: you get charged $25 every two weeks. This could be a lot more, considering it's a contagious disease at play and other employees falling ill due to that unvaxxed affects the risk pool AND productivity.
Mandate is a dirty word. I don't understand why fully vaccinated workers would quit their jobs if they believe the vaccines (and subsequent boosters) are effective. I do understand why workers who have serious reservations would quit if vaccines were mandated. I think they are wrong but their resolve to resist should be tested in some fashion. Maybe serious bribes would work. It's less expensive than losing production and firing employees and hiring and training new workers. Arranging one-on-one meetings between hesitant employees and personable, respected MDs or other healthcare professionals might help.
I'm probably not alone in thinking this but I've read enough comments from people who claim to be against vaccinations to think that most such commenters are just trouble makers who know many readers will not check out the "facts" or links. I never take a link that doesn't ring true to me at face value.
I think that this will depend on the industry. Your and Steve's concern is losing workers if a mandate is enacted. I think that there's some truth to this in the industries that produce physical products.
I can see the inverse happening in service industries, where labor is a bit more fluid, and employees themselves (as opposed to the employers) are the ones agitating for the mandate. In some of these industries NOT having a mandate (should this pandemic continue to drag on) might drive some of these COVID-sensitive workers to the arms of companies that DO have mandates and have been very vocally pro-vax.
We're not there yet, but I have a strong suspicion that a lot of this conflict ends up playing out in the same way the anti-racist fights as of late have done, and it becomes a pure cultural issue.
On employers and vaccines: tie the shot to the availability of good employer-subsidized health insurance. No need to keep an anti-vaxxer in the company's main risk pool of they are going to raise costs for everyone else. Provide the minimal level required by law and treat the real plan as a bonus for employees who got the shot.
Alternatively: charge a fee every pay period for being unvaccinated. My company does that if you're a smoker: you get charged $25 every two weeks. This could be a lot more, considering it's a contagious disease at play and other employees falling ill due to that unvaxxed affects the risk pool AND productivity.
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1430553102659248141
Mandate is a dirty word. I don't understand why fully vaccinated workers would quit their jobs if they believe the vaccines (and subsequent boosters) are effective. I do understand why workers who have serious reservations would quit if vaccines were mandated. I think they are wrong but their resolve to resist should be tested in some fashion. Maybe serious bribes would work. It's less expensive than losing production and firing employees and hiring and training new workers. Arranging one-on-one meetings between hesitant employees and personable, respected MDs or other healthcare professionals might help.
I'm probably not alone in thinking this but I've read enough comments from people who claim to be against vaccinations to think that most such commenters are just trouble makers who know many readers will not check out the "facts" or links. I never take a link that doesn't ring true to me at face value.
I think that this will depend on the industry. Your and Steve's concern is losing workers if a mandate is enacted. I think that there's some truth to this in the industries that produce physical products.
I can see the inverse happening in service industries, where labor is a bit more fluid, and employees themselves (as opposed to the employers) are the ones agitating for the mandate. In some of these industries NOT having a mandate (should this pandemic continue to drag on) might drive some of these COVID-sensitive workers to the arms of companies that DO have mandates and have been very vocally pro-vax.
We're not there yet, but I have a strong suspicion that a lot of this conflict ends up playing out in the same way the anti-racist fights as of late have done, and it becomes a pure cultural issue.
We're in for some interesting days ahead.