ICW Group hopes that 2021 will see the United States gain a decisive upper hand in its fight against COVID-19. Our country is currently engaged in an unprecedented race to vaccinate as many people as possible while using public-health measures to minimize deaths in the short term. The situation is dire—according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention more people died in the United States from COVID-19 in January 2021 than died in the last two years from the flu. Even as we work through the challenges of this ongoing tragedy, we argue that it’s reasonable to hope that the first half of 2021 can be a bridge to “normalcy” when many aspects of social and economic life can resume without fear of illness and death.
While vaccines appear effective and seeing “shots go into arms” is heartening, new challenges are emerging by the day, including more contagious strains of the virus and a slow start to vaccine rollout.
For businesses, vaccination is potentially the best way to return to normal. A vaccinated workforce is less likely to transmit the virus to others (employees or customers), significantly reduces and nearly eliminates hospitalizations and deaths, and can help a company stay open and in business during this and potential future outbreaks. While the benefits of vaccination are clear, for both historical diseases like polio and smallpox and the current COVID-19 pandemic, how business facilitates vaccination of their workforce is less clear.
Join us on April 8 at 11 a.m. PST for our webinar titled COVID-19 Vaccines: Workplace Guidelines. We will walk through creating vaccine workplace plans, the implications of vaccine availability for businesses and the latest from the EEOC. This webinar is a part of our four-part certificate series on safely returning to the workplace during COVID-19.
