Covid-19 vaccination push gets into top gear
Corporate Australia has stepped up momentum on workplace vaccinations, with some CEOs declaring nothing is off the table when it comes to compulsory jabs.
Corporate Australia has stepped up momentum on workplace vaccinations, with some chief executives declaring nothing is off the table when it comes to compulsory jabs for front line workers.
The comments from some of the nation’s biggest employers came as the boss of SPC said a growing Covid outbreak in the central Victorian town of Shepparton, where the food manufacturer is based, vindicates its hardline stand on compulsory vaccines across the company’s workforce.
Last week Qantas became the highest-profile company to declare Covid vaccines compulsory among staff, with chief executive Alan Joyce ordering frontline workers to get the jab before November 15 or leave the aviation industry.
Tabcorp chief executive David Attenborough told The Australian he “fully supported” the Qantas push, and revealed the wagering giant was considering offering incentives for its more than 4000 permanent staff to be vaccinated.
“We’ve already introduced vaccination leave … and we’re going to look at other measures that are preferably more carrot than stick in our approach,” he said, not added that “we’re ruling nothing out” if it came to going a step further on compulsory vaccines.
SPC chairman Hussein Rifai said his company’s firm stand on vaccines was further vindicated by the growing number of positive Covid cases in Shepparton in recent days. Over the weekend SPC’s retail outlet in the centre of the regional town was named as a Tier 2 exposure site by the Victorian Department of Health.
Mr Rifai continues to argue for the federal government to provide legal cover for employers to enable them to mandate the vaccine. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has so far said the matter of mandatory vaccines was a decision for individual business.
“At the very least, we expect the government to be supportive and send the right messages when what we are doing is fully aligned with the government direction of reaching mass vaccination within the population,” Mr Rifai said.
Coles chief executive Steven Cain said the federal government’s Supermarket Taskforce was reconvened in recent weeks to look at compulsory vaccines.
Currently workers in distribution centres were being prioritised for the vaccine “because they are the most sensitive point”, Mr Cain said.
“A distribution centre going down for 14 days would cause a lot of disruption in Australia because it serves hundreds of stores” he said.
“Sorting out the DC team with vaccines is a top priority.”
While Coles would like a rapid rollout for supermarket workers, Mr Cain stopped short of mandating vaccines.
“We have a large number who are isolating because of (Covid-positive) customers going into the store – getting them vaccinated is the next priority.
“When we get to that 70 or 80 per cent (of supermarket workers vaccinated) the government will be looking at carrots and sticks to try to get to where we need to get to.
“It is more (about) encouraging team members … but we would rather at this stage it be a personal choice.”
Likewise, copper miner OZ Minerals has stopped short of mandating compulsory vaccinations, but chief executive Andrew Cole said there was an “expectation” that if any staff were operating near Indigenous communities they would be vaccinated. In addition there is rapid testing on remote sites.
Across the broader mining business it was about “incentivising and strongly encouraging”, Mr Cole said.
“I talk about getting vaccinated pretty much on every call that I have with a business. I’ve been vaccinated, the family has been vaccinated, and most people I speak with have either been vaccinated or are looking to get vaccinated,” he told The Australian.
At the same time OZ Minerals was working with respective health departments to set up vaccination centres for fly in, fly out workers.
CSL chief executive Paul Perreault said he “strongly encouraged everyone to get vaccinated”.
The vaccine CSL has been producing in Melbourne under licence – AstraZeneca jab – has been linked to rare blood clots, triggering vaccine hesitancy and slowing down Australia’s immunisation rollout.
Mr Perreault said it was important government and health experts provided the community with a clear set of messages.
“I can’t control all the messages. All I can control is delivering the vaccine and we’re going to continue on that path,” he said.
“Unfortunately, things change and goalposts change and information changes, and Covid no exception, not only in Australia but in every place where we operate around the world.
“There have been some confusing messages and I think a lot of people have become experts overnight, seemingly.
“So I think we just have to look at the science and just know that AstraZeneca is a very good vaccine. There have been reported side effects, and I understand that.”
Mr Perreault said Covid-19 wasn’t going away soon, which was why the company is turbocharging its R&D investment in vaccines, including the manufacture of mRNA vaccines – the same technology used in the Pfizer and Moderna jabs.
Packaging company Amcor, which has 46,000 employees across 40 countries, is watching the debate, but chief executive Ron Delia has stopped short of issuing a mandate for vaccines.
“We are a strong believer in vaccines and we would strongly encourage all of our people to get vaccinated,” Mr Delia said.
“We’ve done things around the world to make it easier for staff members to get access to the vaccine and to make it easier for them to get the vaccine – whether that’s time off or where possible moving vaccinations closer to the workplace or extra facilities,” he added.
Additional reporting: Perry Williams, Jared Lynch and Nick Evans
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