Tyson Foods to Require COVID-19 Vaccinations for its U.S. Workforce

SPRINGDALE, Ark. — To protect team members, their families and their communities, Tyson Foods said it is requiring its team members at United States office locations to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 1, 2021. All other employees are required to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1, 2021, subject to ongoing discussions with locations represented by unions. 

 

This action makes Tyson Foods one of the largest U.S. food companies to require COVID-19 vaccinations for its entire workforce, the company said. Almost half of Tyson Foods’ U.S. workforce has been vaccinated and coronavirus infection rates among team members remain low.

 

“Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is the single most effective thing we can do to protect our team members, their families and their communities,” said Dr. Claudia Coplein, chief medical officer, Tyson Foods. “With rapidly rising COVID-19 case counts of contagious, dangerous variants leading to increasing rates of severe illness and hospitalization among the U.S. unvaccinated population, this is the right time to take the next step to ensure a fully vaccinated workforce.”

 

Tyson Foods president and CEO Donnie King, who succeeded Dean Banks in June, released a memo to employees.

 

Since February, Tyson Foods has hosted more than 100 vaccination events for team members across the country and more than 56,000 U.S. team members have been vaccinated so far. Additional on-site vaccination events will be scheduled, and the company will continue to collaborate with local health departments and health care providers to make the vaccine more accessible.  

 

To support efforts to fully vaccinate all team members, the company will also provide $200 to its frontline team members, subject to ongoing discussions with locations represented by unions. This is an expansion of the company’s existing policy of compensating workers for up to four hours of regular pay if they are vaccinated outside of their normal shift or through an external source.  

 

Exceptions to the vaccination mandate will involve workers who seek medical or religious accommodation.  

 

“Tyson Foods and Matrix Medical have worked together since the beginning of this pandemic to develop and implement strategies to mitigate the risk of the virus to Tyson employees and their families, as well as the communities where they live and work,” said Matrix Chief Medical Officer and Group President, Daniel Castillo. “Matrix clinicians and Tyson team members have worked hand-in-hand to implement a broad array of workplace safety measures at Tyson, and we now feel the rising number of new cases across the U.S. warrants advanced clinical strategies — including requiring vaccinations.”