How to get employees vaccinated and back to work

Employers are eager to get workers vaccinated and back to the office this year, relying on mandates and other digital tools to ensure their workplace is healthy before their return.

VaxAtlas, a vaccine management company, launched a digital platform to help users through the vaccination process from start to finish. The app connects employees to certified pharmacy networks to schedule vaccine appointments, sends alerts and reminders for their second vaccine dose, and provides QR-coded passes as proof of vaccination.

Read more: The latest workplace debate: Do employees want a COVID vaccine mandate?

“With no structured approach to reopening, the vaccine management process will be confusing and hard to navigate,” says Judi Korzec, CEO and founder of VaxAtlas. “We’re anticipating the state to mandate a certain hierarchy of individuals to [get the vaccines], so employees have this tool in their hand as the vaccines become available.”

Eighty-four percent of Americans say they plan to get the vaccine, according to a December poll by Ipsos and ABC News. However, just half of employees believe their employer should require a COVID-19 vaccine before allowing employees to return to work, according to Eagle Hill Consulting.

Navigating this complicated process is an insurmountable challenge for employers, Korzec says. She shares how VaxAtlas can help employers navigate the challenges she anticipates with more wide-spread vaccinations and rebuild trust within their workforce.

What are some of the issues you anticipate as the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more available?

I am anticipating emergency use authorization to have some missteps along the way. That could be everything from a shortage in manufacturing, in which if the employee is scheduled for a vaccine and the provider doesn’t get the shipment, they would have to reschedule. There’s something special about the vaccine and the logistics of it — it’s critical you get the second dose. [VaxAtlas] built an alert system, which was absolutely critical because of the nature of multiple manufacturers, emergency use authorization and the uneasiness around the supply chain.

How is VaxAtlas working to smooth out some of these challenges for employees and employers?

We linked to tens of thousands of independent pharmacies to be able to schedule vaccines in these locations. The employees download an app and they set up a profile for the COVID program. They can schedule as soon as they're able to get the vaccination. [Once they’re vaccinated,] we send them a message that says you have now completed your series and it will take 10 days to achieve immunity, [per the CDC]. The employer has a dashboard where they can actually see how many people have downloaded the app, how many people scheduled for their first vaccine, how many people have gotten their vaccine and completed their series.

There are very few employers that are going to mandate this. In general, what we're hearing from employers is, “We want to know our level of risk.” This allows them to continue to educate and target their communication to their population based on what they're trying to achieve with this program.

What are some other things employers should do to maximize the safety of their employees?

You can't lose those safety protocols. It's going to take time to get to that point where you say, okay, enough [employees] are vaccinated. We actually have an option in our platform to continue testing. If you're vaccinated, you don't need the test, but you need one or the other to keep your population safe.

Unfortunately, I think employers weren’t given the tools to be able to do a very orderly approach to testing. Employees are looking at employers and saying, “Why do the rules seem to change?” It is extremely frustrating for employees because employers are trying to do the very best they can and get their businesses back and follow the rules, but those change very quickly. Depending on how well that employer articulated to their employees and communicated the changes, it was so hard to keep up with and there probably was a little bit of lost trust there.

We're in this all together. If an employer is given an opportunity to have an orderly process with this next phase, they’ll regain that trust, because everybody wants their life back. The more tools and communication and orderly processes employers bring to the table, we'll regain that relationship.