Whopping ZERO Percent Say They’re Willing to Lose Job Instead of Getting Vaccinated in New Poll

 
Vocational nurse Christina Garibay (L) administers Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Covid-19 vaccine to a man at a Skid Row community outreach event where Covid-19 vaccines and testing were offered in Los Angeles, California on August 22, 2021.

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

Amid vocal consternation over President Joe Biden’s impending Covid vaccine and testing requirements, a new poll found zero percent of respondents who were willing to lose their jobs rather than get vaccinated.

Last month, the president announced anti-Covid measures that included an OSHA mandate that employers of 100 workers or more require their employees be vaccinated or receive weekly testing for the virus, a policy that has overwhelming public support. But there has also been a very loud minority who intensely oppose the mandate, or any mandate at all in many cases.

But despite pearl-clutching about potential staffing shortages, some new data indicates the number of people who will put their money where their unvaccinated mouths are is exceedingly tiny.

First, there’s a new poll from YouGov in which respondents were asked “If your employer said you had to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or else you would lose your job, which would you choose?”

Precisely zero percent responded “Lose job.”

But when asked “Is your employer requiring you to be vaccinated?”, only 19 percent responded “yes,” while 61 percent said “no” and another 21 percent said they were “not sure.”

The vaccine and testing requirement is still several weeks away, but many companies and other organizations have begun to implement such policies on their own, and the White House released a report this week indicating that they work, and result in few staffing losses:

On August 6, United Airlines announced that all 67,000 of its employees would need to be vaccinated within five weeks after FDA’s approval of a COVID-19 vaccine. When United began its vaccination requirement, only 59% of its employees were vaccinated. In fewer than two months, United announced that 99% of its employees were vaccinated and in compliance. As United began the process of separation from workers who refused to comply, about half of the remaining unvaccinated chose to get the shot.21 In less than 60 days, the company with 67,000 employees faced the prospect of losing less than 200 individuals. More than 99% of workers stepped up to comply with the vaccination requirement.

A similar trend is happening right now at Tyson Foods. On August 3, when Arkansasbased Tyson Foods announced its employees would need to be vaccinated, only 45% of its workforce had gotten a shot. Today, that number stands at 91%. That’s a 102% increase in two months. The company’s vaccination requirement covers all of its 120,000 U.S. employees, and the company’s vaccination rate will continue to rise as workers have until November 1 to get vaccinated.

Some of the largest employers in the U.S., like AT&T, Bank of America, CVS, Disney, Google, Hess, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Netflix, Procter & Gamble, and Walgreens already have a vaccination requirement. And, more and more companies step up to require vaccinations each week.

Organizations have taken different approaches. Some places like Amtrak are implementing a system to allow workers to test weekly or get vaccinated, so they will be prepared for the upcoming rule from the Department of Labor requiring all employers with 100 or more employees implement such a system. Other companies, such as United Airlines and Tyson Foods, do not allow for a testing opt-out and have seen some of the highest vaccination levels in the private sector.

Time will tell if these trends hold up, but for now it seems the unvaccinated are less anxious to take this job and shove it than the vocal protests would have you believe.

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