With US COVID-19 cases rising again due to the Delta Variant, which now makes up about 83% of US cases, coupled with vaccine misinformation and inequality throughout the country, President Biden is not alone in the fight against vaccine deniers: big American companies such as Google and Facebook have recently issued new rules requiring their workers to show vaccination status in order to return to office.

President Biden himself has recently announced that all federal employees are required to attest being vaccinated against COVID-19 or risk following strict protocols such as twice weekly screening requirement and subject to travel restrictions:

Unvaccinated employees ‘will be required to wear a mask on the job no matter their geographic location, physically distance from all other employees and visitors, comply with a weekly or twice weekly screening testing requirement, and be subject to restrictions on official travel,’ the White House said ahead of Biden’s speech.

Nevertheless, the federal employee vaccination requirement is not a mandate and federal employees will not lose their jobs in consequence of not being inoculated, officials said.

On the other hand, this is not the case for many US office workers. On Tuesday, Tyson Foods made vaccination mandatory for its 120,000 workers in offices, slaughterhouses and poultry plants across the country or risk their employment status. Similarly, other big firms such as Google and Facebook will require their workers to be vaccinated before returning to the office.

Vaccinating employees: what the big firms are doing

Besides Google and Facebook, other US companies have recently adopted vaccine mandates and COVID-19 protocols alike: Twitter, for example, has asked their workers in New York and San Francisco to show their vaccination status before returning to offices. The same goes for Morgan Stanley, who said it would bar unvaccinated employees and clients from its New York office.

Rick Dennison, who was Minnesota Vikings assistant coach, was recently sacked after he refused to receive a COVID-19 vaccine – a choice that goes against the guidelines of the NFL. The league requires all Tier 1 staff, including coaches, front-office executives, equipment managers and scouts to be fully vaccinated whereas players are not required to do so but will face strict protocols throughout the season.

Yet other firms such as Walmart hold a more cautious stance: The nation’s biggest retailer requires only their US-based corporate employees to be fully inoculated by October 4. The mandate does not apply to the bulk of their company’s frontline workers and warehouse staffers.

The White House had previously expressed its support for private companies requiring proof of vaccination for their employees. As a response to the companies actions, President Biden said on Tuesday:

‘I want to thank Walmart, Google, Netflix, Disney, Tyson Foods for their recent actions requiring vaccination for employees.

Look, I know this isn’t easy, but I will have their backs and the backs of other private and public sector leaders if they take such steps.

But others have declined to step up. I find it disappointing. And worst of all, some state officials are passing laws or signing orders that forbid people from doing the right thing.’

However, despite the support from the White House, there are still state legislations that forbid private and public sector mandate for vaccines – as mentioned in President Biden’s speech.

In Texas, where cases are at 121 per 100,000 residents, the governor has decreed that people cannot be obliged to wear masks in public spaces. Similarly in states like Arkansas and Florida, state legislators have imposed some degree of restrictions to vaccine passports. Some governors, such as Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, have regretted banning mask mandates and are now attempting to reverse their decisions.

Why has it come this far?

The problem behind America’s vaccine hesitancy is much deeper than misinformation and poor leadership. America is not only battling with the COVID-19 crisis, its battles against health problems stem further back before the pandemic: the US is the fattest country among the OECD countries, about two out of five American adults are obese, and Heart disease accounts for one in four deaths in the country. These are caused by two main issues: lack of access to health resources and health illiteracy.

With its mostly privatised healthcare, many of the US population lack access to proper health services. As a result, problems with the healthcare system might exacerbate illnesses and heighten mortality from certain diseases. Matters are made worse when most of America’s form of transport caters mostly to automobiles instead of pedestrians, which consequently discourages walking and other healthier forms of transportations such as cycling.

Health illiteracy also plays a big role in America’s health problem: Less than half of Americans are proficient readers, with only 12% considered by the country’s health department as ‘health-literate’. Health literacy also varies unequally through factors such as race, education level and economic status. Coupled with disinformation and lack of resources to live a healthy lifestyle, it is to no surprise that vaccine deniers are prevalent in the US.

‘We have really struggled with health literacy over the years—this is not new,’ explains Jennifer Dillaha of the Arkansas Department of Health. ‘People struggle with how to get good health information and apply it to their lives. And this existed as a problem in our state, long before the previous administration.’

Potential solutions

As previously said, America’s vaccine inequality runs deeper than just misinformation and poor leadership. That said, we need more than short term solutions to fix this growing problem.

In the short term, policymakers and big companies such as Facebook and Google need to implement COVID-19 protocols which ensures their workers’ health and wellbeing. This includes mask-wearing and vaccine mandate while respecting those who refuse due to legitimate religious or medical reasons.

In the long term however, policymakers need to address and tackle the issue of health illiteracy, lack of health resources and misinformation in the US. Educational reforms are needed to fix this, alongside infrastructural reforms which encourage physical activity among Americans. Additionally, the US healthcare system will need to address the issue of inequalities that bars people in poverty, and people of colour who disproportionately lack access to proper health services. This too, is a vital source to tackle disinformation and health illiteracy.

About the Author: Annisa Kumaladewi

Annisa Kumaladewi is a contributing current affairs Features writer. Her expertise lies in current affairs in the Asian diaspora, Indonesian history and World political philosophy.

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