By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
More and more businesses might require employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus now that the FDA has given full approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce President Patt Lilly expects several businesses to begin issuing vaccine mandates.
“I do believe, and I’m beginning to hear more and more from the business community, that they will begin mandating the vaccine,” Lilly tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. “Obviously, Mosaic took this position just recently. Tyson, which has a facility here in town, made that determination several weeks ago.”
Lilly expects other businesses to follow suit.
The FDA approved the coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson on an emergency basis. It has now given full approval of the Pfizer vaccine and is expected soon to do the same with the Moderna vaccine.
Lilly says the move by Mosaic and Tyson falls in line with a trend nationally.
“Much of it will be around, I think, the issue of industries or businesses that have an issue either with health, as is the case of Mosaic, or the issue of food safety, as in the issue of Tyson, but I think this is likely to spread,” Lilly says.
Lilly says small businesses might be more reluctant to mandate vaccinations, either because they worry about losing employees or they are run by owners who believe vaccinations need to be an individual decision.
Lilly says requiring employees get vaccinated makes business sense for many companies.
“If you’re interacting with the public and you’re not taking steps to make sure that the people who are interacting with the public are safe, that becomes in and of itself very problematic,” according to Lilly.