At first, it felt like there was nothing the world could do except wait as the coronavirus claimed millions of lives. However, scientists were quick to create and issue a vaccine to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
As the coronavirus continues to affect the world, several companies have started issuing vaccine mandates for their employees. Numerous employees have declared they would rather quit their job than receive the vaccine, but how serious are they?
Coronavirus Vaccine Mandates And Employee Pushback
In a recent survey funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a sample of about 1,000 workers were asked what they would do if vaccines were required by their employer. The survey contained several possible actions to choose from, and the respondents could check as many boxes as they liked. Shockingly, 48% of respondents who said they were “vaccine-hesitant” indicated they would quit or look for another job if they were forced to get the vaccine.
Similar polls have reported an identical trend in the data. For example, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey indicated that 50% of respondents would quit their job if a vaccine was required by their employer. Although several respondents claimed they would leave their job because of a vaccine mandate, the data tells a different story.
However, there are several people on the opposing side of the survey too. In the survey initially mentioned, around 63% of respondents admitted that a vaccine mandate would make them feel safer and not prompt them to quit.
Vaccines Mandates And Employee Cooperation
It’s becoming increasingly popular for companies to issue a vaccine mandate. The numbers prove that people would instead get the vaccine than lose access to a weekly paycheck.
For example, Houston Methodist Hospital required its 25,000 employees to get the vaccine by June, and only 153 people (or .6%) were either fired or resigned. The same was true for the Jewish Home Family in New Jersey, which saw only five of its 527 workers quit because of the vaccine mandate.
Even in states with relatively low vaccination numbers, employees choose to get the vaccine instead of losing their job. In conservative rural Alabama, the Hanceville Nursing & Rehab Center only saw six of its 260 employees leave because of a vaccine mandate.
Other companies, like Delta Airlines, issued a $200 surcharge on monthly health insurance plans for unvaccinated workers instead of a vaccine mandate. No matter what companies do, it’s clear employees would rather suck it up and get the vaccine than lose their monthly income.