Business Group to Employers: Raise Your Employee Vaccination Rate

Concerned about the disappointingly low levels of COVID vaccinations in the U.S., the Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH) has stepped into the fray to help plan sponsors tackle the issue with their members.

“Creating a Vaccination-Friendly Culture: What Employers Can Do,” is intended to serve as a guide to develop and implement strategies to boost vaccination rates for seven medical conditions, including COVID, in employee populations, and hopefully, their families and significant others.

“The public’s mixed response to COVID-19 vaccines has highlighted the urgent need to create a more vaccination-friendly culture if we are to reap the benefits of scientific advances in fighting disease and illness in the future,” says Candice Sherman, CEO, NEBGH. “The data shows that employers are a trusted source of information and therefore in a unique position to fight misinformation, promote vaccination as an essential part of overall wellness and set an example by communicating their commitment to vaccination.”

In compiling its 40-page guide, NEBGH surveyed 103 large employers about their vaccination policies. The big picture: 85% don’t set targets for employees to be vaccinated, and 75% cite misinformation and vaccine hesitancy as barriers to boosting vaccination rates among their employees.

Other survey results:

• 71% of employers say they host vaccinations campaigns.
• 83% say they have launched vaccination communications campaigns for employees. (Far fewer have included family members or retirees in these campaigns.)
• 75% have reduced or eliminated out-of-pocket costs for vaccines.
• 33% offer vaccination incentives.
• 50% provide paid time off for vaccinations.
• 3% offer transportation for vaccinations.

To give plan sponsors and advisors a better understanding of the subject, the association’s guide includes information on vaccination history; data on uptake; racial and ethnic disparities in vaccination status and barriers to vaccination; and more.

Here are the eight steps offered by the guide to raise the vaccination rate among plan members. The guide discusses each step in detail:

• Provide information
• Make it easy for employees to get vaccinated
• Communicate employers’ commitment to vaccination
• Collaborate with DEI leaders and Employee Resource Groups
• Fight misinformation
• Promote immune fitness as part of wellbeing strategy
• Ensure vaccines won’t cost employees one penny
• Collect vaccination data among employees

“The critical focus over the past two years has been on vaccinations to fight COVID-19, but employers recognize that vaccinations against other diseases and illnesses can play a significant role in improving the overall health and wellbeing of their employees, families and beyond. And it starts with creating a vaccination-friendly culture. We are hopeful that employers will take specific actions described in the guide and work hard to boost vaccination rates in the coming years,” says Sherman.