越来越多的企业——从航空业巨头达美航空到百老汇制作公司“汉密尔顿”——宣布了围绕新冠肺炎疫苗的新的工作场所要求。
这些声明是在美国疫情缓解之际发布的，全国各地的办公室开始重新开放计划。然而，尽管美国各地的疫苗接种率都在上升，但许多商业领袖都在考虑与工作场所需要疫苗相关的潜在法律或公关问题。
在去年12月更新的最新指南中，平等就业机会委员会表示，雇主可以法律要求工人接种疫苗对抗冠状病毒，但有医疗或宗教背景的人除外。
迈克尔·麦考伊/盖蒂图像，文件
2020年7月22日，美国达美航空公司的员工在罗纳德·里根国家机场托运行李
达美航空(Delta Airlines)周一正式生效，该公司要求美国所有新员工都要接种疫苗，除非他们有资格住宿。这家总部位于亚特兰大的客机拥有约91000名全职员工，成为迄今为止美国最大的雇主，宣布对新员工进行疫苗接种。
该公司表示，不会在全公司范围内要求现有员工接种疫苗，但指出超过60%的员工已经接种过疫苗。
该公司在上周五的一份声明中表示:“这是保护达美航空员工和客户的重要举措，确保该航空公司能够随着需求的恢复以及经济复苏和未来的加速而安全运营。”"疫苗安全、有效，对航空公司和我们世界的未来至关重要."
与此同时，百老汇大片《汉密尔顿》的制片人告诉纽约时报上周晚些时候，随着这部音乐剧准备于9月在百老汇重新上映，他将要求该剧的所有员工接种冠状病毒疫苗。
卡洛·阿莱格里/路透社
在冠状病毒疾病(新冠肺炎)大流行期间，人们走过百老汇演出品牌
德尔塔和“汉密尔顿”等家喻户晓的公司发布的公告可能会被其他公司效仿调查洛克菲勒基金会和亚利桑那州立大学健康解决方案学院上个月晚些时候发布的报告发现，对商业领袖来说，疫苗接种是重新开放的首要任务。
接受调查的1339名雇主中，约88%表示他们计划要求或鼓励员工接种新冠肺炎疫苗。同一项调查发现，60%的雇主表示，他们将要求员工提供疫苗接种证明，57%的雇主表示，他们计划激励员工接种疫苗。
根据《高等教育纪事报》的数据，除了教育等一些部门外，全国共有361所大学宣布了对学生或员工的疫苗要求，但大多数私营部门都回避宣布要求。
一些公司，包括科技巨头脸书和信用卡公司Discover，已经公开表示他们不会要求员工接种疫苗——尽管他们会极力鼓励。
达美航空公司宣布这一消息的几个月前，联合航空公司首席执行官斯科特·科比(Scott Kirby)今年1月在市政厅告诉员工，他希望强制接种疫苗，但担心实施要求的后勤保障。
“我认为联合公司不会逃脱惩罚，也不可能成为唯一一家需要疫苗并强制接种的公司，”科比当时告诉员工。“我们需要其他人来展现领导力。”
截至周一，联合公司告诉美国广播公司新闻，它没有关于工人新疫苗接种政策的消息。
根据疾病控制和预防中心的数据，近50%的美国人口已经接受了至少一剂冠状病毒疫苗，截至周一，37%的人已经完全接种疫苗。
Employers announce COVID-19 vaccine requirements as workplaces reopen
A growing number of businesses -- from airline giant Delta to Broadway production "Hamilton" -- have announced new workplace requirements surrounding COVID-19 vaccines.
The announcements come as the pandemic eases in the U.S., and offices around the country commence reopening plans. Even as vaccination rates rise across the U.S., however, many business leaders have mulled over the tripwire of potential legal or PR issues related to requiring the vaccine in the workplace.
In its most-recent guidance updated last December, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said that employers canlegally require workers to be vaccinatedagainst the coronavirus, with exceptions for those who have a medical or religious accommodation.
Delta Airlines' mandate that all new hires in the U.S. be vaccinated, unless they qualify for an accommodation, officially went into effect on Monday. With some 91,000 full-time workers, the Atlanta-headquartered airliner became the largest U.S. employer to date that has announced a vaccine mandate for new employees.
The company said it will not be putting in place a company-wide requirement that current employees to be vaccinated, but noted that more than 60% of its employees have already been vaccinated.
"This is an important move to protect Delta’s people and customers, ensuring the airline can safely operate as demand returns and as it accelerates through recovery and into the future," the company said in a statement last Friday. "Vaccines are safe, effective and essential to the future of the airline and our world."
Meanwhile, the producer of the Broadway smash hit "Hamilton"told the New York Timeslate last week that he will mandate all of the show's employees be vaccinated against the coronavirus as the musical prepares to reopen on Broadway in September.
The announcements from household names like Delta and "Hamilton" could likely be followed by other companies, as asurveyreleased late last month by the Rockefeller Foundation and Arizona State University's College of Health Solutions found that vaccinations were a top reopening priority for business leaders.
Some 88% of the 1,339 employers surveyed said they planned to require or encourage their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The same survey found that 60% of employers said they will require proof of vaccination from employees, and 57% said they plan to incentivize their employees to be vaccinated.
With the exception of some sectors such as education -- where a total of 361 colleges across the country have announced vaccine requirements for students or employees, according to data from the Chronicle of Higher Education -- much of the private sector has shied away from announcing requirements.
A handful of companies,including tech giant Facebook and credit card firm Discover, have publicly said that they will not require vaccines for employees -- though they will strongly encourage them.
Delta’s announcement comes months after United Airlines’ CEO Scott Kirby told employees at a town hall in January that he wants to make vaccines mandatory but worried about the logistics of implementing a requirement.
"I don’t think United will get away with and can realistically be the only company that requires vaccines and makes them mandatory," Kirby told employees at the time. "We need some others to show leadership."
As of Monday, United told ABC News that it has no news on a new vaccination policy for workers.
Nearly 50% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and 37% are fully vaccinated as of Monday, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
