Should Covid-19 vaccinations be compulsory?

For South Africa to meet its target of vaccinating 70% of its population by December, more than half of all adults need to have had their first shot by — well now — end October.

It’s an unachievable, though, and it’s a concern for business owners and managers. Not only do unvaccinated workers place everyone else’s health at risk, but there are also huge financial risks to consider. Dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak can be very costly, especially when you consider the sick leave expenses, labour replacement and possible work delays.

It is little wonder then that the private sector is now taking active steps to help drive vaccine uptake. So, what steps can you take at your estate or place of work?

Dispel vaccine myths

According to Morag Evans, CEO of Databuild, businesses — especially those in the construction sector — need to educate their employees on the benefits of the vaccine, the risks of not being vaccinated, and help to dispel conspiracy theories and myths.

Some wrongly believe that vaccines can affect your libido, cause death, and insert a microchip in your body. Others think they aren’t properly researched because they were developed quickly, don’t offer benefits to those who’ve had COVID-19, or alter DNA.

Professor Ian Sanne, the CEO of Right to Care and an infectious diseases expert, who also sits on the Minister of Health’s COVID-19 ministerial advisory committee, describes these as nonsense and totally false. Statistical evidence shows that the vaccine does in fact play a significant role in preventing hospitalisation and death. Research done by Discovery indicates that vaccinated people are three times less likely to infect others, four times less likely to end up in high care/ICU and ten times less likely to die compared to unvaccinated individuals.

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority has investigated 29 deaths that occurred soon after people received the COVID-19 vaccination and of these, 26 were coincidental and not linked to the vaccination and the other three were unclassifiable due to insufficient information.

“In short, the vaccine saves lives, and regardless of whether employers are in favour of or against it, they have a moral and ethical responsibility to actively encourage their employees to have the vaccination,” says Evans.

He recommends that employers start by inviting healthcare professionals to address workforces and encourage employees to ask questions so that any concerns they have can be addressed.

Offer an incentive

In the UK, supermarkets, cinemas, insurers and even ride hailing apps like Uber and Bolt have been doing their bit to boost vaccine uptake by offering rewards to the vaccinated, and it looks as if the trend has now arrived in South Africa.

FNB has already started to offer its vaccinated customers financial incentives of up to R18 million. Over the next three months, vaccinated customers can take part in a lucky draw, via the FNB app, and could win R3 million for just being a vaccinated FNB customer, R2 million more if they are vaccinated and have FNB Life Insurance, and another R1 million if they are vaccinated and over 60.

Lee Bromfield, CEO of FNB Life, says, “Overall, we see the vaccination programme as a means to help lower the mortality rate of our customers and encourage our customers to consider getting vaccinated not only for their own health benefits but for the good of the economy and the society at large.”

Estate managers, for example, can also incentivise staff by offering hard incentives like cash or gift cards, for example, or soft incentives such as an extra day of paid leave, covering travel costs to get to and from vaccines, and even paying for childcare so that parents can get the vaccine.

Change your workplace policies

For retirement estates with an on-site medical facility, the responsibility to protect both healthcare workers and patients/homeowners is so much greater. It is why leading health NGO, Right to Care, has become one of the first South African businesses to introduce a mandatory vaccine policy.

According to their new policy, all 4,000-plus Right to Care staff, consultants, contractors, and locums must receive a COVID-19 vaccine within six months of becoming eligible to receive a vaccine. The aim of the policy is to help the organisation achieve more than 95% employee vaccination levels, up from 82% pre-policy.

“At Right to Care, we believe that organisations that aim to be good corporate citizens should support a mandatory vaccine policy, and our mandatory vaccine policy is an extension of Right to Care’s commitment to protecting and supporting staff that began early last year when the pandemic began,” explains Professor Sanne.

If you do make policy changes, it’s advisable to always seek the advice of an HR professional and legal advisor.