Tyson Foods to provide entire workforce COVID - 19 vaccinations

Aug 3 - Tyson Foods Inc said on Tuesday it was providing COVID -19 vaccinations for its entire workforce, joining a growing list of major U.S. companies as they face the renewed pandemic restrictions due to the fast-spreading Delta variant.

Surging COVID - 19 cases and new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that requires all non-vaccinated individuals to wear masks have led many companies to rethink their plans.

Many of the largest corporate America's big names have taken action following the CDC's guidance, including mask mandates from McDonald's Corp., Apple Inc. and vaccination requirements by Walmart and Walt Disney.

U.S. officials said Monday that COVID - 19 cases, along with hospitalizations and deaths from the virus, have increased in the last week even as vaccination rates have seen a pick up amid concern over the highly contagious Delta variant.

The CDC announced there were about 72,000 new cases of COVID- 19 per day in the United States as of Saturday, a 44% increase over the previous week and higher than the peak set in the summer of 2020.

Tyson said the employees at other two US offices should be fully vaccinated by October 1, while those in U.S. offices have until November. It added that nearly half the population of United States were vaccinated.

Labor unions and meat companies have been pushing states to increase the pace of vaccine rollout in the food sector to protect workers and avoid supply chain disruptions from COVID - 19 outbreaks, such as closures of slaughterhouses last year.