Employer of 1,400 Tri-Cities area workers to require COVID vaccinations

Workers at Tyson Fresh Meats in Wallula will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, as Tyson requires all its United States workforce to be vaccinated.

Frontline workers at the plant will receive a $200 bonus once their fully vaccinated status is confirmed.

About 1,400 people are employed at the beef processing plant near Pasco, and at least four workers at the plant are known to have died from COVID-19.

It is not known whether they were infected on or off the job.

In spring 2020, the plant, which draws much of its workforce from the Tri-Cities, temporarily halted production as it tested all workers. It found nearly one in eight workers at the plant were infected with the coronavirus.

The plant produces enough beef in one day to feed 4 million people.

Tyson, the largest U.S. food company to require vaccinations for its entire workforce, has set a deadline to complete worker vaccinations by Nov. 1. New hires must be vaccinated before they start.

It will make exceptions for people with medical or religious reasons.

“Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is the single most effective thing we can do to protect our team members, their families and their communities,” said Dr. Claudia Coplein, Tyson Foods chief medical officer.

“With rapidly rising COVID-19 case counts of contagious, dangerous variants leading to increasing rates of severe illness and hospitalization among the U.S. unvaccinated population, this is the right time to take the next step to ensure a fully vaccinated workforce,” she said.

Donnie King, president of Tyson Foods, said in a memo to workers that requiring vaccinations was not a decision the company made lightly after spending months encouraging workers to get vaccinated.

Nearly all hospitalizations and deaths in the United States are among those who are not vaccinated, he told workers, quoting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

To date Tyson Foods has spent more than $700 million related to COVID-19, including buying masks, face shields and temperature scanners; installing protective barriers in plants; and providing on-site testing and vaccinations.

This story was originally published August 4, 2021 at 12:42 PM.