The Australian Government today announced a program allowing businesses to team up with vaccination providers to administer the jabs to staff at their workplace.
As part of the continued expansion of Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout program, vaccination providers will be able to seek accreditation to administer COVID-19 vaccines at workplaces – similar to the way flu vaccines are administered – through a Request for Tender program that will kick-start Stage 3 of the Government’s National COVID Shield Campaign Plan.
The COVID-19 Vaccine Administration Partners Program is a result of the Government’s engagement process with the business community throughout the vaccine rollout.
The program will facilitate acceleration of a range of other vaccine delivery methods, including additional support to vaccinate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other priority groups.
Pfizer or Moderna will be the primary vaccinations administered through the workplace vaccination programs, however workplaces will be able to order AstraZeneca if required.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said with the potential to reach Australians at places they already go to every day, this program will make it even easier for people to get vaccinated, while recognising the eagerness of businesses to help.
“It will allow Australia to further increase the overall size of the COVID-19 vaccination workforce, and to use the many offers of assistance from vaccination administrators and Australia’s business community,” he said.
“The program will establish a panel of accredited COVID-19 vaccination providers that can be accessed by government entities, businesses and other organisations to support vaccination priorities.”
There will be no cost to the employee or employer, with the Australian Government paying accredited COVID-19 vaccination providers on the panel a fixed price per vaccine dose, with businesses engaging COVID-19 immunisation providers from the panel to negotiate details of the arrangements directly with vaccination providers on the panel.
In today’s Australian Financial Review it was reported that more than 1 million people could be vaccinated at work with Australian businesses given the green light to join in the rollout and turn offices, warehouses, construction sites, factory floors and mines into vaccination centres.
“The plan – made possible by a supply surge of 36 million Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines over this and the next three months – will involve a business enlisting an accredited vaccine provider, which would then send nurses or other medical personnel to the business to vaccinate staff, much in the same way businesses arrange annual flu shots for workers,” the article states.
“The program is reportedly expected to be under way by the beginning of October because the providers must first seek accreditation to administer COVID-19 vaccines at workplaces through the Commonwealth tender process.
“The government estimates between 1 million and 1.7 million people could be vaccinated at the workplace through the business program, which will augment the doses being administered through state government vaccinations hubs, and the Commonwealth-controlled network of GPs and pharmacies.”
Debate heats up on vaccines in workplace
As workplace vaccination becomes the dominant workplace consideration for employers, AREEA provides the following snapshot of key developments.
Crown playing its ‘no jab, no entry’ card
In today’s The Australian it was revealed Crown Resorts has unveiled a mandatory Covid-19 vaccination plan for its 20,000 workers that could extend to members of the public wanting to visit or stay at its facilities across Australia.
Crown Resorts chief executive officer Steve McCann said the major hospitality employer would urgently consult employees and stakeholders about introducing mandatory vaccination policy for staff and visitors.
The move came after almost two-thirds of Crown workers who participated in a survey last week said they supported the notion of mandatory vaccination within the hospitality sector.
Following the news, the union representing many of Crown Resorts’ 20,000 workers hit back at the plan to explore a mandatory jab policy for staff and customers at its three-casino hotels, saying only governments should be able to mandate vaccines.
Biden to require all Federal workers, contractors be vaccinated
While recognising the COVID-19 situation is starkly different in the United States, the moral debate has taken a new turn with President Joe Biden set to order US businesses with more than 100 employees to ensure their 80 million workers are vaccinated against Covid19. The decision is part of sweeping new rules that will trigger constitutional battles with pro-choice states, businesses and individuals, as reported in The Australian last Friday.
“All employers with 100 or more employees would have to require their workers to be vaccinated or undergo at least weekly Covid-19 testing under a new plan by President Biden to curb the spread of the pandemic,” the article says.
“The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the coming weeks plans to issue an emergency temporary standard implementing the new requirement, which will cover 80 million private-sector workers, officials said. Businesses that don’t comply can face fines of up to $US14,000 per violation, they said.”
The employers will also have to give workers paid time off to get vaccinated or to recover from any side effects of getting vaccinated.
The new requirement, announced by Mr Biden, is part of a six-point initiative to boost vaccinations, improve access to testing and make Covid-19 treatments more widely available. The heightened push to combat the pandemic comes amid a surge in infections and increase in hospitalizations and deaths.
In a speech at the White House, the President issued the plan to contain the third wave of Covid-19 in the US, which has seen Covid19 cases and deaths rise to almost 150,000 and 1500 a day, levels not seen since February.
“This is not about freedom or personal choice it’s about protecting yourself and those around you, people you work with, those you care about,” the President said, warning businesses they would face a fine of up to $US14,000 per violation.
“We’ve been patient but our patience is wearing thing, and your refusal has cost all of us,” he said, referring the 80 million Americans who remain unvaccinated despite ready availability of free Covid-19 vaccines across the US since February.
Rio Tinto FIFO workers won’t be required to have COVID-19 test when they travel to the Pilbara if vaccinated
Yesterday (13/9) it was reported in The West that Rio Tinto is incentivising its WA workforce to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by announcing immunised staff won’t be required to undergo testing when they travel to the Pilbara.
It was reported the company this week told its employees that three-layer screening will be reintroduced at Perth Airport and regional WA airports for any staff member flying to the north west.
In addition to a health questionnaire and a temperature check, employees are now also required to return a negative rapid antigen test at Rio Tinto’s Perth Airport screening facilities.
However, from this week workers who can provide proof they’ve received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine will be able to bypass the testing requirement. From October 10, staff need to be double jabbed to bypass the testing.
AREEA’s Policy Position / Ongoing Advocacy
AREEA continues to advocate to government at all levels that the business community requires greater national leadership from our legislators to help deal with the complex issue of workplace vaccination.
Employers in all sectors are faced with a growing conflict between their overarching duty to provide a safe workplace for all employees, including a COVID-safe environment, and the minefield of employment law considerations that might apply if they take a position of mandating vaccinations.
The resources and energy industry is highly dynamic and involves people constantly moving around the country, working in close quarters on high value assets and interacting with both CBD and regional community members.
It is highly likely that in the resources and energy industry, some employers will take the position that requiring employees to be vaccinated is critical to maintaining the safety of their workforce and the communities in which they work.
Employers need to be in a position to make such assessments and implement them with confidence that such a direction is lawful and reasonable and would not expose them to liabilities or prosecution.
To discuss AREEA’s policy positions and government advocacy, or to obtain a copy of AREEA’s Member Guide to the COVID-19 Vaccine, contact [email protected]
