Corrected at 4:19 p.m.
As President Biden orders federal employees to get vaccinated against Covid-19, or else wear masks to work and be tested, amid a surge in cases driven by the Delta variant, Vermont employers are beginning to consider whether they should follow suit.
New data released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control show 35,000 vaccinated Americans a week are being infected and show symptoms.
Manufacturers are grappling with the issue.
At Twincraft Skincare’s three factories in Winooski and Essex, Michele Asch, vice president of leadership and development, said the protocol on vaccines and masks continues to evolve.
“We strongly encourage people to get vaccinated,” Asch said in an interview on the factory floor in Winooski earlier this week. She added that vaccines are not mandatory.
Asch said the company has offered to offer vaccinations at work. About 25 of the company’s roughly 330 employees took Twincraft up on that offer.
Asch said the company recommends masks for unvaccinated employees, but currently does not require them.
“We’ll continue to evolve,” Ash said. “We’re not out of this pandemic yet. None of us want to go back to wearing masks, but unless we can get more people vaccinated, we will be back wearing masks. The Delta variant is spreading because of unvaccinated people, and so the most responsible thing one can do is get vaccinated.”
One of Vermont’s largest manufacturers, GlobalFoundries, with a factory in Essex Junction, has a similar policy of not requiring vaccines — yet.
Spokeswoman Julie Moynehan said the company encourages employees to get vaccinated and has offered on-site vaccine clinics.
Moynehan said that, given the rise in cases, GlobalFoundries is reviewing the situation and may make some adjustments in coming weeks.
Vermont reported 171 new Covid-19 cases this week, up from 89 the previous week. According to state projections, cases are expected to continue to rise in the coming weeks, said Mike Pieciak, commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation, at Gov. Phil Scott’s weekly press conference.
Vermont officials have relied on boosting vaccination rates as the state’s main defense against Covid-19. Of eligible Vermonters, 83.6% have received at least one dose of the vaccine, the highest rate in the nation. Roughly 90,000 eligible Vermonters have yet to begin vaccination.
At this week’s press conference, Scott echoed CDC Director Rochelle Walensky’s recent remark that “this is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Scott said that, with Vermont’s high vaccination rate, “there’s not a reason for us to take an alarmist kind of stance and make any major changes.”
However, as concern about the Delta variant spread, service industries, too, are considering a revision of their policies.
A spokesperson for M&T Bank, which announced in February that it is acquiring People’s United Bank, says the bank strongly encourages employees to get vaccinated, but is not requiring them to do so at this time.
The bank merger, set to take effect in October, is subject to approval by regulators.
The spokesperson says M&T offers employees four hours paid time off for each vaccine injection. Fully vaccinated employees can choose whether to wear a mask or not. Employees not fully vaccinated must wear a mask at work.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told NPR Friday that employers should consider requiring their employees to get vaccinated.
President Biden said Thursday the federal government will reimburse employers who provide time off to employees so that they can get vaccinated.
The U.S. Justice Department has issued an opinion saying federal law does not prevent employers from requiring employees to get vaccinated.
Google, Facebook and MGM Resorts are among the private employers that have announced they will require employees to get vaccinated.
Still, only 10 percent of employers surveyed say they intend to require all employees to get vaccinated, The Associated Press reports, citing surveys by the research firm Gartner.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Shake Shack’s vaccination policy.