About three months after issuing one of the first and strictest vaccine mandates in the state, Pomfret aerospace and medical manufacturer Loos & Co. says 100% of its workforce in eastern Connecticut is vaccinated against COVID-19.
Paul From, president and CEO of Loos & Co.’s parent company, Ontario-based Central Wire Industries, said eight people out of around 270 employees chose not to get vaccinated and left the business. Management did not allow workers to get tested for the coronavirus in lieu of a shot, as some companies and the federal government have proposed for large employers.
From said it was important to take a hard line on vaccinations to protect employees and safeguard operations, which could grind to a halt if staff members were constantly at risk of getting seriously sick.
So far, the strategy has paid off — all of Central Wire’s associates, across 11 North American facilities, were vaccinated by Oct. 29, the deadline set out in August, when the company first announced the policy.
“The reality now is that if COVID affects us, it will be a much shorter and recoverable event,” From said. “We can keep going with the knowledge that intensive hospitalization is likely not needed. The employees we have with preconditions can work knowing we are doing all we can for them.”
From said he encountered a range of opinions on the vaccine while talking with plant workers who had concerns about the mandate, including “complete COVID deniers” and those who believed there are microchips in the shot. Most, however, came around to being vaccinated.
Loos & Co. has since made masks optional at its worksite. The company also offers testing kits to anyone who feels sick or thinks they may have COVID-19 symptoms.
“It’s working really well and I’m proud of the entire group,” From said.
When Central Wire first announced its vaccine policy, on Aug. 17, relatively few private employers of note had embraced mandates, with many expressing uncertainty over possible legal barriers. In the following weeks, however, as courts struck down challenges and the federal government signalled its receptiveness, companies such as CVS Health, Cigna and Delta Air Lines, among others, joined the push.
One month later, in September, President Joe Biden instructed federal agencies to draw up rules requiring all employers with 100 or more workers to ensure that their workforce is either vaccinated or being tested weekly for the coronavirus. The federal mandate does not require employers to pay for the tests of workers who decline the shot.
