Some large Vermont employers say they’re waiting to learn more about President Joe Biden’s order that all employers with more than 100 workers be vaccinated against Covid-19 or be tested weekly, while at least one says it already requires employees to be vaccinated.
Biden’s order will affect about 100 million workers — two-thirds of the U.S. workforce, administration officials estimated.
GlobalFoundries, which has a huge semiconductor plant in Essex Junction, is a federal contractor facing the requirement that all its employees be vaccinated, with no option for testing outside of medical or religious exemptions.
“We are waiting on the specifics to learn more,” spokesperson Julie Moynehan said.
Moynehan added that employees must disclose if they are vaccinated or not and that the company has strict site Covid-19 protocols in place, though she did not respond to an emailed question asking what those protocols are.
Beta Technologies, the electric aircraft manufacturer at Burlington Airport, has about 200 employees.
“Beta is still evaluating implications of this announcement by the president, but we have encouraged every employee who can be vaccinated to be vaccinated,” a spokesperson said.
Others have already required vaccination.
SunCommon employs about 200 people in New York and Vermont. The company has required its employees in both states to show proof of vaccination since Aug. 23.
“We earlier ensured that our employees are vaccinated, so the federal government urging the same is welcome news,” said Duane Peterson, co-president of SunCommon, the Waterbury-based provider of solar energy systems.
Peterson and Co-President James Moore wrote in an Aug. 12 letter to employees that those unable to show proof of vaccination would lose their jobs. Employees with medical or religious exemptions could opt to get tested once a week.
Peterson said one employee “moved on,” while half a dozen employees said they appreciated the education SunCommon provided and admitted that they wanted to keep their jobs, so they got vaccinated.
“This wasn’t decided lightly,” Peterson and Moore wrote employees. “[T]he wave of dangerous infection brought by the Delta variant has forced this latest step — to protect our beloved employees and their families, and our customers.”
Biden is requiring all employees of the executive branch and all federal contractors to be vaccinated, with no option to opt out with testing. However, employees will be able to invoke religious or medical exemptions.
There are 6,948 federal employees in Vermont, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In addition to the mandate on private employers, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it will release an interim final rule next month requiring hospitals, dialysis facilities, home health agencies and other health providers to vaccinate staff as a condition for receiving Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement.
A similar requirement for nursing homes was imposed earlier this summer.
The federal Department of Health and Human Services also announced vaccine requirements for employees of Head Start programs.
Earlier this week, Gov. Phil Scott announced that all executive branch employees would have to attest that they are vaccinated or be subject to masking and testing requirements starting Sept. 15. The Vermont State Employees’ Association, which represents most state workers, has been notified of the new requirement, the governor said.
The state previously imposed that requirement on corrections officials and on those who work at state-run medical institutions. With the new regulations, unvaccinated employees would be mandated to wear masks and get tested at least weekly.
“We want as many people as possible to get the vaccine because we know they work, and we feel this is the best way to put this pandemic behind us,” Scott said. “I continue to urge other employers to follow suit.”
Some of Vermont’s largest employers — its public colleges and universities — would not be affected by Biden’s order. For instance, all University of Vermont students are already required to be vaccinated but not staff or faculty.
The Biden rule apparently will not affect public school employees, either.
“Our understanding is it does not apply to Vermont public schools,” said Darren Allen, communications director for Vermont-NEA, the state’s largest teachers union. “The president’s actions don’t change anything on the ground here in Vermont schools.”
Vermont-NEA supports vaccine requirements in schools, Allen said.
Hospitals, on the other hand, will be affected. As of Oct. 1, UVM Medical Center will require its staff to be vaccinated or comply with regular testing, spokesperson Neal Goswami said.
The Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Care Systems supports the mandate.
“As health care leaders we applaud efforts to require eligible Americans to be vaccinated,” said Jeffrey Thieman, president of the association. “It will save lives.”
Some of the largest employers in Vermont, its ski resorts — including Jay Peak, Smugglers’ Notch, Killington, Stratton, Sugarbush and Vail Resorts, which owns Stowe Mountain Resort, Mount Snow and Okemo Mountain Resort — did not respond to emails asking how the new mandate affects them.
So far, 86.7% of eligible Vermonters are partially or fully vaccinated.
