Tyson Foods will require its 120,000 U.S. workforce to get vaccinated

 Meatpacker Tyson Foods announced Tuesday that it will require its 120,000 U.S. employees to be vaccinated fully this year and will pay them a $200 bonus to do so.

The company said 56,000 U.S. employees have been vaccinated. Office workers face a deadline of Oct. 1 to be vaccinated fully, while plant employees have until Nov. 1.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that the seven-day average of new infections surpassed last summer’s peak, before the country had access to vaccines. U.S. Covid cases, based on a seven-day moving average, reached 72,790 on Friday, according to the agency’s data. The delta variant is fueling the surge in cases, especially in areas with low vaccination rates.

...Throughout the pandemic, many meat and poultry processing facilities have been forced to close temporarily after outbreaks of Covid-19 swept through their workforce. Conditions in the plants require employees to work closely together for hours at a time, making social distancing nearly impossible. Group housing and shared transportation to and from work also increase contact among workers...MORE