Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale will use mobile health clinics and support staff to provide its employees information about and access to the COVID-19 vaccines.
The project is in partnership with Matrix Medical Network, which will work with Tyson Foods’ health services team at company facilities. A news release did not specify when the services would start but said it would start in early 2021 and continue through the year.
Tyson Foods will use a third party to provide education about the vaccines in multiple languages. Many of Tyson Foods' workers in production plants are non-English speaking immigrants.
"Providing vaccine education and accessibility is a critical part of our ongoing commitment to put the health and safety of our team members first," Tyson Foods CEO Dean Banks said.
Tyson Foods has more than 119,000 employees in the United States with the availability of the vaccines varying by state. Tyson Foods said its plan to ensure that any employee who wants to be vaccinated will, and the company said it will "strongly encourage" employees to be vaccinated.
The United Food and Commercial Workers International union, which represents many of Tyson Foods' employees, called the partnership a "critical step" in protecting frontline food supply workers during the pandemic.
"Providing vaccinations and healthcare monitoring to Tyson employees is the next step in a comprehensive approach to fighting COVID-19 and establishing new ways of maintaining workplace health and safety for the future," said Daniel Castillo, the chief medical officer at Matrix Medical Network.
