Business Needs to Step Up to Vaccines
If you
own a company or run one, it's time to step up and tell employees to get vaxxed
or get lost. Nothing less will stop this pandemic and our own government can't
get the job done on its own.
BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS@TULLMAN
There's less debate every day, as the
accelerating stream of behind-the-scenes books continues to make clear, that
the lies, incompetence and ultimate indifference about Covid-19 of Trump and
his crew of sycophants has cost thousands of American lives over the last two
years. One in 500 Americans has died of Covid-19 and more than 1,000 people are
still dying each day -- disproportionately in red states. Trump's
politicizing of the pandemic by promoting lies and misinformation to raise
funds for his own personal political war chest while killing thousands of his
sadly deluded followers in the process will be remembered as one of his worst
and most shameless acts.
The Biden administration has finally stepped
up and made vaccinations mandatory for federal workers (except the Post
Office), the military, and companies with more than 100 employees.
Unfortunately, there's only so much legally and practically that Biden can do
to offset the manipulative and dishonest mini-MAGA governors who are resisting
vaccine mandates while sickening more children in their states every day.
That ignominious list is headed by Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, whose
state leads the nation in deaths per
capita from Covid-19. Don't count on these hacks to educate and
change the closed minds of the roughly 80 million people who are still refusing
to be vaccinated.
Now's the time for those of us running
businesses to heed Bob Marley's sagest advice: "get up, stand up, don't
give up the fight." Sticking your head in the sand and pretending that
things will get better by themselves or due to someone else's efforts may be
the easy thing to do, but it won't work. The only direction that bad things
head on their own is downhill. Contrary to one of Trump's earlier lies, they
don't just disappear by themselves.
If your business is suffering right along with
the rest of the economy (and whose business isn't suffering?), now's the time
to stop whining, blaming and complaining about the situation and instead step
up to help get things back on track. Not half-heartedly, not tentatively, and
not by trying to please everyone because that's a faulty formula that's most
likely to leave us in this sick limbo for another year or two. As Jerry Garcia said decades
ago at the United Nations about protecting the environment: "Somebody
has to do something. It seems incredibly, in fact, it seems pathetic that it
has to be us, you know."
But it does, you know.
While some of our major national firms, such
as United Airlines, Tyson Foods and Walmart are providing real leadership and
setting the right examples, it's been disheartening to see how many firms and
organizations of all sizes have come up short. So have too many of the
individuals who call themselves disruptive and innovative entrepreneurs.
They've all attempted to dodge, finesse or straddle the difficult decisions
regarding vaccination and testing instead of making the necessary statements
and the accompanying commitments that we're going to need to get out of this
sticky mess once and for all.
Perhaps the only things more depressing have
been the constant vacillation and changes in direction by the CDC, the White
House and other government agencies as well as the painfully piecemeal
decisions of the regulatory approval agencies. It's difficult for even a
conscientious business (putting aside all the issues regarding fraudulent
documentation) to implement an effective testing requirement - especially tests
administered at home prior to coming to work - when the United States is one of
the last countries in the world to have inexpensive at-home Covid -19 testing
kits broadly available.
But the fact is that ex parte testing
is never going to be a solid and convincing solution for many employees and
unions, which is just another consequence of Trump's debasement of trust in our
government (and in each other) along with the immediate emergence of all sorts
of fraudulent vaccination and testing documentation. In addition, on-site
testing is simply too costly, too time-consuming and slow, and too risky for
the millions of businesses that need to get their people back to work now in
safe, secure and credible environments.
Businesses need to step up and simply require
that every employee who wishes to return to on-site work will need to be fully
vaccinated. They also need to ignore the vile governors in Texas and Florida
who are trying to outlaw this practice. A simple go/no go rule is essential
because, human nature being what it is, anything more complicated will soon be
abandoned or ignored by those charged with addressing and enforcing it.
This is the only realistic way forward for
businesses to provide the consistent assurances and comfort to their employees
and customers that they can return to the store, office or factory floor
without subjecting themselves or their families to further exposure to variants
of the virus.
If you're an indoor assembly or shared
co-working space or a restaurant, theater, or entertainment venue, you need to
take the next strong step as well and require on-site guests, indoor diners,
visitors and desk renters to show proof of vaccination. You'll discover very
quickly (apart from a few social media trolls) that your solid and loyal
customers and users will respect and support and even encourage your efforts to
look after their health and well-being. It's win-win.
So, if you run a business and want to do
something effective and important for your business, your team, your community
and your country, now's the time to act. The opportunities for half measures,
lip service and short-sighted avoidance are over. Get up, stand up and do
what's right.
SEP 21, 2021
