Stagnated Vaccination Rates Lead to Workplace Mandates

As the U.S. heads into peak respiratory infection season, COVID vaccinations are still stalling nationwide. Only 66% of the population age 12 and over have been fully vaccinated.

Vaccination sentiment hasn't budged in Verywell Health's latest vaccine sentiment survey. One in five (23%) of our respondents remain undecided or against getting the COVID-19 vaccine, a proportion that hasn’t changed meaningfully in four months.

But workplace vaccine mandates may help in moving the needle slightly.

Vaccine Mandates Hit the Workforce

Vaccine mandates seem to have helped individual workplaces increase the percent of their workforces that are vaccinated without the mass exodus many feared.

Of our respondents working in-person at least part-time, 62% estimate that half or more of their colleagues have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Forty-three percent say they work closely with someone who they believe is unvaccinated, and 39% say they are concerned about working alongside others who have not gotten the vaccine.

In early September, President Joe Biden announced workplace vaccine mandates, affecting more than an estimated 100 million workers: federal workers, federal contractors, any businesses with more than 100 workers, and any medical center funded by Medicare or Medicaid.

Some states have already enacted vaccine mandates for hospital employees that have gone into effect. And they're working.

Hospitals in New York and California enacted vaccine mandates starting at the beginning of October. In California, many of the state’s largest systems have managed to get their vaccination rates up to 90%. Still, a few workers who refuse the vaccine will need to get regularly tested or face termination.

When faced with losing their jobs, even the vaccine-hesitant are getting their shots. The great workplace exodus in the face of mandates has mostly failed to materialize. 

Workers Want More COVID Protections

But others seem to be ready to change their working situation for other reasons—mostly a lack of trust in the face of indecisive or inadequate COVID protections.

Twenty-eight percent of those working in our survey say they have little to no trust in their employer to put in the proper precautions for a safe work environment. Forty-five percent feel they have little to no say in their employer’s COVID strategy.

More than half of the people in our survey who are working in person say they have considered making changes to their working situation because of your employer’s response to COVID-19.

But very few people (9%) say they are actually willing to leave their jobs.

The most popular request was a call for more protections, with 29% of respondents wanting their employers to provide more adequate personal protective equipment, testing, and vaccinations. Providing options to work from home was also high on the employee request list, with 19% saying they’ve thought about asking to work from home.

These feelings are playing out in real-time. Last week, workers at the Kellogg company went on strike at several factories after failed union negotiations and two years of working in strenuous COVID conditions. Restaurant workers are also fighting back after over a year spent serving unruly, unmasked, or unvaccinated customers. Many are walking out to protest conditions.

The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. For the most recent updates on COVID-19, visit our coronavirus news page.