COVID-19 vaccine proponents may have a new ally in the Tri-State- employers.
Corrine Hurt is the Director of Evansville Operations for Express Employment Professionals. She says increasingly, one topic has been coming up in her conversations with employers- whether or not to mandate coronavirus vaccinations for their workers.
Hurt says, “I wouldn’t be surprised if there are four or five people reaching out to me this week, saying, ‘Hey, what can we do about this? Should we do it? How do we do it? What do we do?’”
During an online town hall last week sponsored by the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership, local attorney Laura Scott answered the question on the minds of many emplo9yers.
Scott said, “The very short answer to that question is yes, employers do have the authority to mandate that their employees get vaccinated.”
During the EREP online town hall, Lynn Herr with the Vanderburgh County Health Department said that overall, vaccination rates among people of color are very low, but that employers are making a difference by making it easier for workers to get the vaccines.
Herr said, “Their employers supporting vaccinations, and then, not having to leave the job site to get vaccinated.”
Southwest Indiana Chamber President Tara Barney says says businesses like the idea that they can take control of their operating situations by mandating vaccines and not risking a return to being shut down as many were early in the pandemic.
Barney says in some cases, employers are choosing a hybrid approach, by requiring certain jobs and departments within a company get vaccinated, rather than the entire company workforce.
